When Billboard visited her Rainbow Land recording studio in Malibu, California, they found a different Miley than we’ve come to know through her recent albums. She’s twerking a lot less these days, and getting less high.
The 24-year-old singer said it’s “crazy” that she “hasn’t smoked weed in three weeks,” claiming that she’s quitting “for a second:”
“I like to surround myself with people that make me want to get better, more evolved, open. And I was noticing, it’s not the people that are stoned. I want to be super clear and sharp, because I know exactly where I want to be.”
She goes on to explain this break later in the interview, responding to would-be criticisms that this is just another “phase” in her image:
I fucking hate it when people can’t adjust. I used to [resist changing]. But I haven’t smoked weed in three weeks, which is the longest I’ve ever [gone without it]. I’m not doing drugs, I’m not drinking, I’m completely clean right now! That was just something that I wanted to do.
Miley also denounces the idea that her weed-smoking image was all for attention and shock value:
It’s easy, dude. When I want something, it’s fucking easy for me. But if anyone told me not to smoke, I would have not done it. It’s because it was on my time. I know exactly where I am right now. I know what I want this record to be. And not in the sense of manipulation — wanting something from my fans or the audience, like some slimy thing — “How do I get attention?” I never thought about that.
There is, of course, nothing wrong with taking a break from marijuana use or trying new ways to express yourself, even for a chart-topping artist. But the switch from wearing pot leaf covered jumpsuits to announcing that you’ve moved past marijuana can be skewed by opponents of legal, safe weed. As CelebStoner.com points out:
That’s all well and good for her, but the media perception is another thing. It leads to articles like, “Miley Cyrus Quits Pot, Other Celebrities Renounce Marijuana,” by groups like Parents Opposed to Pot.
