Twenty-five years ago, Sharon Stone had a stroke. It took her years to recover, and she did so through medication and hardcore physical rehabilitation. She’s also dealt with other medical issues, like removing benign breast tumors and undergoing a hysterectomy due to endometriosis. It’s a lot! It feels like she’s been dealing with medical issues for decades because she has. Well, Sharon is in a somewhat healthier place these days. She decided to stop taking one of her medications (for no reason) and then she decided to stop smoking weed. Like… she’s 68 years old, why are going cold turkey from weed and what sounds like a very necessary anti-stroke medication?
Sharon Stone is done smoking weed. Her journey to cut ties with cannabis began when she was put on several medications after she suffered a near-fatal stroke in 2001.
“I got off one of my medications that I was on for my stroke last September, and they said I couldn’t go off of it,” Stone tells me. “They said, ‘You can’t go off of it. You can never go off of it.’ I’m like, ‘I’m going off it,’ and it was like going off of f–king heroin. I was sick as a frigging dog for four and a half months. I just thought, ‘I want my life back.’ I had gotten off the majority of the drugs over the years that they had put me on. But I was like, ‘I want a drug-free life.’”
She continues, “Once I got off that, I decided I’m going to quit smoking pot. And because I think they put so much stuff in it now — they really do — when I stopped smoking pot, I also got sick. It’s not like you’re pulling it out of the ground anymore. It’s not like when we were kids. I got pretty sick for a month. I went to my neurologist, and he said, ‘Sharon, I’ve had people dying in the emergency room from marijuana.’”
I don’t get this perspective at all: “I want a drug-free life.” Sure, I would understand it if she was actually a hardcore drug user. Like, if she was doing blow or shooting up, of course, absolutely, go drug-free. But she literally had a stroke which still affects her to this day! Staying on anti-stroke medication is not the same as using narcotics! Be for real. Going off weed is just… whatever. When I’m that age, I hope I’m still up for smoking a thick blunt, but I get that not everyone feels that way.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Sharon Stone bei der FJORD Premiere in Cannes am 18.05.2026 *** Sharon Stone at the FJORD premiere in Cannes on 18 05 2026,Image: 1101172107, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no , Credit line: IMAGO/Avalon
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- Sharon Stone attends the “Diamond” red carpet during the 79th Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France on 19 May 2026.,Image: 1101321060, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no , Credit line: Stefano Costantino TTL/Avalon
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- Sharon Stone at the ELLE Style Awards 2026 gala at the Real Casino on 2 June 2026 in Madrid (Spain). The fashion world’s most iconic awards celebrating talent, fashion and women. A tribute to actors, musicians and artists from any field who make a difference in society, inspire others and create positive change in the world. 02 JUNE 2026 06/02/2026,Image: 1107374745, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no , Credit line: Ángel Díaz Briñas/Europa Press/Avalon
As someone who takes Eliquis to prevent stroke, I don’t get it either. I’ve not heard pot having any kind of efficacy for that situation either. She’s needing attention these days??
I take three different medications to control my blood pressure. I’d like to not take them as well, but doggone if I’m going to quit. And all the yoga in the world, the meditation, the mindfulness, the ‘forest bathing’ had zero effect on my blood pressure. And since I do NOT want a stroke–certainly not after watching my brother go through a massive stroke–I’m sticking with my meds. Good luck, Sharon, you’re going to need it.
I would like to know which one she dropped, though. More out of curiosity than anything else. I know my brother keeps up with his BP meds, but he stopped the Lipitor after a while–that gave him too much muscle pain.
I do not understand her thinking at all.
She’s playing with her life by not continuing with her anti-stroke medication.
I watched some recent interviews with her lately. I feel for all she’s been through, and she deserves and deserved to be paid what the male actors were paid for all her movies, and still are. I sometimes, however, question the facts of some of the things she says bc they sometimes sound exaggerated. I started to wonder whether she has mental health issues beyond what we know. I felt terrible thinking that when those thoughts crossed my mind while watching the interviews bc she has had a tough life and is resilient. I admire her. Just wondering if anyone else has a sense of what’s true here vs. what’s exaggerated?
Same
Me also.
I’ve always felt that way about her. The media portrays Sharon as a force and someone who’s quirky and eccentric. She may be all of those things but I also feel like there’s something a bit *off* there too.
I still admire her though.
Exactly! I’ve read so many interviews with her over the years, and I definitely feel like she exaggerates at times. She can be very off, as @Kitten states, and it’s been that way for years.
Same here. She is grandiose in her narratives. I know someone who attended galas in Marin that she MC’d in the Phil era and… yeah. There’s something wrong.
Is she taking a blood thinner? I realize she has to tell us, but I wondered if that was what she was talking about…
I have never heard of a reaction from stopping blood thinners, so maybe it was something else?
Me, neither, and I remember I had to stop mine a few days before my hip surgery & it had zero effect on how I felt.
Maybe I understand where she’s coming from in this sense: I’ve suffered from serious depression for years. I haven’t experienced one antidepressant medication without side effects—some effects debilitating until I’ve acclimated to the drug. After a while, I feel great. The cloud lifts, and I think “I don’t need this drug anymore because I’ve been taking it for a couple of years and I don’t like the side effects”. I stop taking the drug and withdrawal is miserable, but I’m off the drug and hooray for me. Then the depression slams back so hard and the cycle starts over again. This is depression.
I’ve learned the hard way that the meds prescribed to you may have some side effects that are a nuisance or unpleasant, but they’re prescribed to you for your betterment. Your doctor knows (assuming they’re competent) that for you, the benefit outweighs the risk.
Sharon Stone has three sons. Why she would risk another stroke is beyond reason to me.
I will say, depending on what medication she’s talking about, there could be reasons she’s not sharing or even admitting to herself as to why she wants to go off it.
I am NOT saying it’s a smart idea! I don’t know what her history is, obviously. But two things I do know:
1) after a life-threatening autoimmune illness triggered by a post-op infection, I was told by doctors I would have to be on immuno-suppressant meds for the rest of my life. Fifteen years later, I broke my thigh bone just getting into bed, and was told by doctors I had to stop that medication immediately and go off it for good. So things don’t necessarily stay the same over time.
2) I just started taking a blood thinner, the result of small pulmonary blood clots. They’re saying it’s for life. OK. One side effect that’s really messing with me, and I wonder if Sharon is having this problem: suddenly I’m down to one, count it, ONE available medication for pain relief. I’m maxxed out on everything I am able to tolerate and that’s safe for me, and now I can’t take even a one-a-day Aleve, because of the anti-stroke blood thinner. I’m a chronic pain patient, and this is not a good thing in any way. But so it goes.
I just wonder if Sharon’s decision is not quite as straightforwardly stupid as it sounds.
I appreciate this more nuanced approach. I had a pulmonary embolism and was on blood thinners for a long time but not forever. Your situation sounds tricky. Just an fyi, I went to a hematolgy clinic and got more info and more options than was provided by my internist.
@Josephine Thank you so much for giving a shout out to us hematologist (as a fellow hematologist that specializes in blood clotting disorders). There are a lot of other blood thinner options that a patient can take and they won’t limit their diet or what analgesics they can take for pain.
@IDLESATCRANKY, it sounds to me like the blood thinner you are taking is warfarin. Maybe there is another option for you, and a hematologist can definitely guide you on if there is an available alternative.
Reading celebrities saying these crazy things about life saving medication is very disheartening. Hopefully the majority of the people that read this practice discernment and don’t follow this type of advice blindly.
@Josephine & @Delight175
I wrote a long comment to you both that somehow didn’t post.
So I’ll just say: thank you both for your kindness, and I am going to see about consulting a hematologist. 💖
Can’t she just quit weed without spreading Reefer Madness-like scare tactics? You do you, Sharon but marijuana isn’t gonna kill you. Taking yourself off of necessary heart medication might, though.
Thank you! Sharon, cannabis isn’t killing anyone. Stop that.
Marijuana can absolutely kill you.
Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome has been known to cause death.
The stronger strains can cause all types of issues for some people. I happen to be one of them.
I was addicted and have been sober for over a year and a half.
She is very charismatic and her memoir was really good, but she is not a 100% reliable narrator. She exaggerates and loves a good story that is made better with exaggeration. Something underlying is going on with her. Please don’t stop taking your stroke prevention meds, folks. Blood clots, afib, high bp, etc can be fatal, but are preventable/treatable with proper medical care. The medical system is sooooo broken in this country that soooo many people are just doing their “own research” and completely rejecting science. People believe what they see on the internet. This mind set is going to be fatal for millions, especially as they age.
Yeah, the primary med for stroke survivors is Eliquis and you cannot just stop taking that or you risk a fatal stroke.
If she’s going to share info like this, it would be more responsible for her to be specific about which med she is quitting. If it’s Eliquis, that’s insane.
I have a chronic illness and I’ve been taking meds daily for 30 years. I am grateful for every single medication in my cupboard because science has given me a life. When I make changes to my meds, I do it in consultation with my doctors, because they spent years learning the science and I can trust them. People “doing their own research” are the folks who gave us RFK Jr. and his band of charlatans.
I can’t comment on the specifics of her case, but this kind of thinking that doesn’t differentiate between medications and drugs of abuse gets people killed.
Some people have debilitating side effects from certain drugs, which affect their quality of life to the point that it’s worth the risk to discontinue or reduce the med. My 90-year-old father has atrial fibrillation, and he was put on Eliquis. It made him too tired to function. So I got the doc to put him on half the recommended dose and I put cinnamon on his oatmeal every day to help thin his blood further. Is that ideal? No. But it has given him quality of life that he didn’t have on the recommended dose. I’ve also had to help my mother (86) do some workarounds because she can tolerate very few meds. The standard of care just doesn’t work for every single person even if it’s the safest choice. This becomes more and more true the older you get from what I’ve seen.
I had two seizures a few months ago because it turns out I have brain tumors. I have been put on anti-seizure medication and been told pretty much that I can never go off of it ever ever ever ever ever ever ever. I asked my epilepsy doctor about it, she’s like, well, you’d have to go seizure free for 2 years, then give up your driver’s license for 6 months while they see if you have any seizures or not, and then over 70% of people will have a seizure at that point, so… She also said never say never, but I think the above remark was pretty much a never ever ever ever ever to me.
I get Sharon wanting to go off the medication, but the same time a stroke is even worse than epilepsy so I think I’d give up on that idea if I were her. That said, I’ve been told no more alcohol ever and I really miss alcohol, especially given the stresses I’ve been under.
Just want to say thx because I have been forgetful with my meds this past month, and you all just got me to get up out of bed and take them (and set a daily alarm on my phone).
Geezus… just what we need is another celebrity sounding off on medical stuff they shouldn’t be. By all means, stop smoking pot, but blood thinners??? I’m a double stroke survivor and I am fuming that this silly b*tch is talking about her blood thinners like they’re a pesky vitamin. I get it; there are things you can’t eat (I miss you, grapefruit!!) and you bruise easily and can bleed prolifically when injured BUT I don’t ever want to have another stroke again so I deal with it. I really hope she doesn’t have the same social capital she used to have; I’d hate for other people on these meds to think they can just stop taking them. You can’t. It’s not a battle of wills, it’s a huge risk for blood clots to form and finish you off. FFS.