Demi Lovato says she started drinking and using drugs before her teenage years due to 'bullying'

Demi Lovato started experimenting with opiates when she was just 12. The former child star told how she would regularly steal alcohol from her stepfather through her teenage years, before turning to cocaine when she was 17, which she 'loved too much'. Demi was sober for six years from the age of 20 to 26, but suffered a near-fatal overdose in 2018, causing her to be legally blind and brain damaged, after having a heart attack and three strokes while in hospital Opening up: Demi Lovato started experimenting with opiates when she was just 12, turning to drink and drugs as a pre-teen because she had been 'bullied and was looking for an escape' Demi, who is now on a journey of sobriety, opened up on the Call Her Daddy podcast on Tuesday about her addiction issues. Child star: The singer, 30, told how she would regularly steal alcohol from her stepfather through her teenage years, before turning to cocaine when she was 17 'Major red flag': The actress explained how she was being bullied at the time and was looking for an escape, so would also steal beer from her dad's fridge and drink 'alone' The former Disney star admitted she would steal beer from her stepfather's fridge and would drink 'alone', which 'should have been a major red flag'. Demi said: 'At 17, it was the first time I tried coke and, like, loved it too much and then kinda bled into me going to treatment right after I turned 18' She explained: 'I tried just smoking weed, I tried doing this.