SHORT TAKES : Papa John Fights to Stay Clean

Singer John Phillips, who once had a $1,000-a-day cocaine habit, says he still struggles to avoid old temptations.

“The urge is indescribable sometimes,” said the founder of the Mamas and the Papas, who performed with the band here last week.

Phillips, 54, said he managed to wean himself off drugs in a rehabilitation clinic after being arrested on drug charges in 1980.

Recovery isn’t easy, especially in the music business, because drugs are easily obtained backstage, Phillips said.

“I’m much better around it (drugs) now. It takes a long time to get over cocaine.”

In his book, “Papa John,” Phillips describes a heroin addiction that nearly killed him, followed by a cocaine “cure” that left him addicted to that drug.