Pubdate: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) Section: Arts and Entertainment Copyright: 2003 Seattle Post-Intelligencer Contact: http://www.seattle-pi.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/408 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) People in the News: IF HIS KIDS WANT POT, DEPP WILL SUPPLY IT If "Pirates of the Caribbean" star Johnny Depp's kids want to smoke pot when they're older, they can count on dad to get it. Not that he wants them to. He doesn't. But as somebody with plenty of drugs in his past, he thinks that if his kids are going to try pot, they might as well try it at home, where the stuff has been quality tested and isn't laced with other drugs, such as PCP. "Out on the street, you never know what you're getting," Depp told GQ. "Suddenly two days later you're beating yourself in the head with a tennis racquet, quoting (Edgar Allan) Poe. You don't want that for your kid." Depp calls pal River Phoenix's fatal drug overdose, which he witnessed, "a nightmare you never recover from" and says his new family helped him jettison his former "dumb-ass, self-centered (bleep) persona." Depp now plans to make Paris his permanent home because the United States "mortifies" him with its "childish freedom fries and freedom toast." * Striking French film workers who shut down a film shoot starring Jack Nicholson got sympathy from an unexpected quarter: the star. Told that artists' rights were threatened, the actor voiced his support. "The struggle continues!" he said in broken French, wearing his trademark dark sunglasses. - -- P-I staff - --- MAP posted-by: Jackl