Musician Aaron Carter has enrolled in rehab for a fifth time — this time to regain custody of his 10-month-old son, Prince, who is under the court-ordered care of his fiancee's mother.
Ahead of a court date set for later this month, the former child star told the US Sun on Tuesday (Sept 13) that he voluntarily entered a month-long outpatient program through Lionrock Recovery.
"The main reason why I enrolled myself into recovery, outpatient programming, is to help with the weed," the singer said in a video posted by the publication. "So I don't want to smoke weed anymore, I don't need to."
Carter, 34, shared that he and his fiancee Melanie Martin lost custody of their son due to domestic violence and drug use concerns. He said that the rebab stint is not court-mandated but that he's doing it to get his son back.
"I decided to enroll myself into that programme. This will be my fifth time in rehabilitation, mainly to take care of aftercare," he said. "There's been no relapses. I haven't had any relapses... it's just triggers are big right now for me. You know, so, I just, I want my son back."
Carter added that he had a medicinal license to grow marijuana but he voluntarily got rid of the gear, plants and strains he was growing in a step to move forward.. He also said that he is allowed to continue use of his "regimented medications", some of which he was prescribed during a previous stint in rehab.
The I Want Candy and Crazy Little Party Girl singer said that his previous attempts to wean off certain medications, such as Xanax, resulted in him going to "a very dark depressive state" and that he "didn't function normally".
"Xanax is a part of my regimented medication that I take from Alo House that was prescribed to me in rehab, so I take a regimented medication, a series of medications which helps keep me clean from huffing dust," he said.
Carter has survived more than 100 seizures from the addiction, he said.
The singer recently raised concerns about drug abuse after he was seen slurring his words, appearing "out of it" and demanding Xanax on social media livestreams. The videos in question are "over-exaggerated" and have nothing to do with narcotic use or addiction, he said, and he insisted that he does not have a prescription pill or opioid problem.
Carter, who is the younger brother of Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter, added that their sister died of a 2012 prescription drug overdose at age 25, and because of that, he "would never overtake" his medication. Carter is mostly estranged from his family, including his twin sister Angel Conrad, accusing them at one point of trying to place him under a conservatorship.
He also shared details about his treatment program and said that becoming a parent has given him new perspective.
"It's an abstinence program and I work with an individual counselor," he said. "I do group therapy, parenting classes, domestic violence classes, I got myself certified in CPR, just a lot of different things. It's new being a parent but it's actually become really fun and exciting and given me a new chapter of my life. It's been amazing."
On the relationship front, Carter and Martin have had a turbulent on-off relationship for years and split weeks after their son's arrival, at one point accusing each other of domestic violence. (Martin alleged earlier this year that Carter fractured three of her ribs during a dispute, then later said on Instagram she made up the "untrue" claims because she was suffering from postpartum depression, Page Six reported.)
Martin appeared at the start of Carter's video Tuesday to say they are "figuring out what we're doing right now" and "getting there." Carter reportedly spent US$200,000 this year on care to make them a "fully functional family", the Sun said, and he stated that he and Martin would like to get married at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York. – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service
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