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Amy Poehler talks drug use, Arnett divorce in memoir ‘Yes Please’

Amy Poehler discusses drug use and her divorce from Will Arnett in revelatory excerpts from her memoir "Yes Please."
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Amy Poehler is sharing several juicy secrets about her personal life ahead of the release of her memoir “Yes Please.”

In excerpts that surfaced via RadarOnline, the “Parks & Recreation” star has detailed her previous drug use and her feelings about divorcing funnyman Will Arnett.

The beloved mother of two, who is usually found haranguing on the side of her “Saturday Night Live” compatriot Tina Fey, revealed that she was a drug user in her 20s, dabbling in cocaine and ecstasy.

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“I tried cocaine, which I instantly loved but eventually hated,” the 43-year-old wrote in a chapter titled “Obligatory Drug Stories.” “Cocaine is terrific if you want to hang out with people you don’t know very well and play Ping-Pong all night. It’s bad for almost everything else... the day after cocaine is rough.”

The Golden Globe-winning comedian also said she used Molly, a more potent form of Ecstasy, and recalled the comedy troupe Upright Citizens Brigade’s New Year’s Eve party.

“We all danced and drank water and loved each other,” she wrote. “I also remember the next day when I thought I had no friends and I was so sad I wanted to sink into the carpet and permanently live there.”

It’s those “day-afters” that got her to cut back, because those hangovers just didn’t cut it with her sons Archie, nearly 6, and Abel, 4.

“The next day is the thing I can’t pull off anymore,” Poehler said. “How do you explain to a 4- and 6-year-old that you can’t play Rescue Bots because you have to spend all day in bed eating Cape Cod potato chips and watching ‘The Bicycle Thief’?”

Poehler also admitted that she smokes pot occasionally, but not nearly as much as she once did.

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“I can’t perform, drive or write stoned, and therefore I smoke pot a lot less than I used to,” she revealed.

The actress, who is currently dating her “Parks & Rec” costar Nick Kroll, also opens up about her divorce from Arnett. The pair announced their separation after nine years of marriage in September 2012 and the “Arrested Development” star filed for divorce last April.

“Getting a divorce really sucks,” the actress wrote in her memoir (also via RadarOnline), adding that the split was “too sad” and “too personal” to discuss in detail.

“Imagine spreading everything you care about on a blanket and then tossing the whole thing up in the air,” she continued. “The process of divorce is about loading that blanket, throwing it up, watching it all spin, and worrying what stuff will break when it lands.”

The Golden Globes co-host said that people going through divorce “feel incredibly alone,” yet are “constantly reminded by society” of how frequent and common divorce has become.

“You aren’t allowed to feel special, but no one knows the specific ways you are in pain,” she wrote.

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Despite their split, Poehler said that she is “proud” and “beyond grateful” that Arnett is her sons’ father.

“I don’t think a 10-year marriage constitutes failure,” she said.

“Yes Please” will be released on Oct. 28.

More please. Follow me on Twitter @NardineSaad.

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