Willow Smith, 19, Says Cutting Back on Marijuana Was a 'Big Eye-Opener': 'What Have I Been Missing?'

"As your mother, I could see the effects of it that you couldn't," said Jada Pinkett Smith

Photo: Nicholas Hunt/Getty

Willow Smith is opening up about marijuana‘s affect on her.

In a new episode of Red Table Talk about coping with addiction during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the 19-year-old daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith spoke about cutting back on her own THC consumption.

While acknowledging that marijuana is helpful to many people, Willow said her social recreational use became “excessive.”

“When I stopped smoking it was a really big eye-opener,” she said, adding that she has been marijuana-free for three months. “There are so many people that I called friends in my life who just kind of like [drifted away]. It really made me think like, ‘This is really interesting.’”

Once she stopped smoking weed, Willow said she noticed her ability to commit herself to productive passions in her life — like yoga and learning Spanish — became more fluid and focused.

“And I know this sounds cheesy but around the time I stopped smoking, I started doing a lot of yoga and I just excelled because I was putting all of my energy into that, I wasn’t doing anything else,” she said. “And I was like, ‘Wow, what if I was doing this with everything?’ And then it really made me think, ‘What have I been missing? What have I been not putting my all into or not putting all of my brain power into?’”

Saying that she’s proud of her daughter, Jada, 48, told Willow “as your mother, I could see the effects of it that you couldn’t.”

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Willow explained that she would smoke out of boredom — something she confronts frequently while self-isolating during the pandemic. However, the singer, who said she’s tried supplementing with CBD, recommended others with similar tendencies to keep their brains occupied with a routine of meaningful tasks.

“Just really think about what is the first thought in your head before you smoke. What is your first thought? And if that’s a thought of stress or using it as a crutch in any way, try to think about that,” said Willow. “And if that comes from a negative place, examine that, because if it comes from a negative place, that could snowball.”

She added: “Just think about what are some other things that you could utilize that aren’t physically or mentally dampening.”

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The family has previously spoken about addiction on their popular Facebook Watch series. In July 2018, Jada’s mom Adrienne Banfield-Jones, 66, got candid about her own past heroin addiction, recounting the “damage” her drug use brought to her life.

“It’s difficult to talk about something that is gonna go out to the world,” Banfield-Jones said at the time. “I couldn’t hide the unmanageability of my life, and the emotional damage and the spiritual damage I did to myself and to [others]. That was devastating. I abused drugs for over 20 years.”

Red Table Talk is available to stream on Facebook Watch.

If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, please contact the SAMHSA substance abuse helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.