ROBERT DOWNEY JR - DOWNEY JR. BATTLES TO KEEP DRUG DEMONS AT BAY

DOWNEY JR. BATTLES TO KEEP DRUG DEMONS AT BAY

Actor ROBERT DOWNEY JR. lives in constant fear of succumbing to the drug addiction that dragged him into "the gutter" in the 1990s.
The Chaplin star spent the majority of the mid to late '90s behind prison bars following a series of heroin, drink driving and firearm offences - and Downey Jr.'s stints in jail did little to temper his appetite for narcotics.
The actor has since sobered up and now has wife Susan to depend on when times get tough, but the memory of his dark past is the key tool in his battle with addiction.
He says, "Sure I have turned my life around, but I will also never forget that time I was in the gutter. It's important for me that I often remind myself of that, so that it never happens again. But yes, I am now a respectable married man.
"I am clean, I work, I am in love. It is almost like a perfectly normal life. I have stability now. Of course, I am afraid of falling back into the clutches of substance abuse - everybody is - but my wife is there for me.
"I have made mistakes in the past, but they are now a part of me. I can only look ahead and hope that I now do better."