The media attention on the life of Pete Doherty has dropped off significantly in recent months. It is not clear if this is because he is managing to get a better hold on his life or if it is just because he is no longer living in the UK. Pete Doherty can certainly be accused of providing the media with plenty of ammunition, but it is unfair that his addiction problems have been so much of a public event. He has now been living in Paris for four years and one of his stated reasons for moving there was an attempt to break away from drug abuse for good.
Pete Doherty and Addiction
There is no doubt that Pete Doherty is a very talented musician, but in recent years, he has been far more famous for his exploits as a celebrity drug addict. His problems with drugs seem to have started during the late nineties when he was a member of The Libertines. Things got so bad that Doherty even robbed the flat of his band mate, and in 2004 was asked to leave the band. He went on to collaborate with other musicians and he created a new band called Babyshambles, but it has been his legal and personal problems that have been the focus of the attention he gets in the media.
Pete Doherty has tried on many occasions to end his addiction problems, and he has entered many rehabs. He has travelled to Thailand twice in the hope that a different approach to recovery might work for him. On one of these attempts, he went to Thamkrabok temple (said to be the harshest rehab in the world), but he left after a couple of days. He returned to Thailand last year, but he was asked to leave the rehab because he apparently was causing so many problems – although it is unclear about what actually happened.
Pete Doherty in Paris
Pete Doherty moved to Paris about four-and-a-half years ago in an attempt to break away from addiction. He still spends a good deal of time in the UK but Paris has become his base. Doherty is not the first person to believe that moving to a different location would help them overcome their problems. He told a journalist that the fact that he moved to Paris was a sign that he was really trying to break away from addiction because it was so hard for him to get ‘decent gear’ there. He goes on to say, though, that the fact that he has more family responsibilities does mean that he is determined to break away from addiction for good this time.
The fact that Pete Doherty has struggled for so long with his addiction problems does mean that many people will be cynical of any claims he makes about changing. The reality is though that it usually does take many attempts before people are able to break away from addiction for good. The fact that Pete keeps on trying to stop does show a large part of him that wants recovery. It would certainly be wrong to ever write him off as lost to addiction. There are plenty of examples of people who have fallen much lower than Pete Doherty has into addiction but who have managed to turn things around. Many of us are hoping that Pete will be able to pull off a similar turnaround. It will be nice in the future to hear more about his successes as a musician than his failures as a drug addict.
