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After Jah Won�t Pay the Bills was released to the public in a limited run, both the band and now producer Miguel agreed that in order to "take it to the next level" they would have to release a compact disc. This, however, would also be the time where both Brad and Bud would decide to take their own extracurricular activities to the next level.
Bud, who had been battling an addiction for some time, temporarily quit the band in order to go through rehab. As Miguel put it, he decided to "take a little vacation from music." If Bud�s circumstances were merely a vacation, then Bradley�s would be an imprisonment.
Decided to take a step to be more like the rock stars he idolized, Bradley chose to start using heroin. Originally, Bradley was completely anti-drug. Says Bud, "He wouldn�t go near the stuff." But familiarity with drugs turned into experimentation, and experimentation turned into fondness, which turned into more experimentation.
When Bradley first began shooting heroin, he intended for it to be a short-term thing. He called it his "one-year experiment in creativity." It turned out to be the addiction that consumed him during his last 5 years of life.
Bradley tried kicking the drug several times, at the desires of his friends and family, who repeatedly tried to wean him off of heroin. He had been in and out of rehab, and several times had been totally clean for several weeks or months, only to go back to the drug every time he would go out on tour. Many artists will agree that it is easier to stay clean while at home, because there is always much more to do, and much more support from friends and family, but when on the road, it�s much easier to give into temptation.
Brad would battle on and off with heroin for years, and would finally kick for himself in the spring of 1996 after being sent home early from the recording sessions for Sublime�s self-titled album in Austin, TX. He was clean for several months before relapsing one last time on the evening of May 25, 1996.
> Growing Up (Reprise)