Fucked Up’s Damian Abraham says weed helped him lose 120 pounds

Damian Abraham: modern punk hero, wrestling fan, lead singer of Fucked Up and human wrecking ball. Abraham became best known for ripping his shirt off, jabbing pieces of glass into his forehead and not once but twice destroying MTV studios that cost thousands in property damage. He’s also a huge advocate for weed. On a recent appearance on Tom Scharpling’s weekly radio show Best Show, the frontman admitted that, despite stereotypes, becoming a pothead has caused him to lose weight.

Scharpling and Abraham were talking about the possibility of new Fucked Up recordings. Or at the very least, if we could expect to see Damian Abraham tearing his shirt off on stage any time soon. When Scharpling mentioned that Abraham has been losing weight lately, Abraham immediately cut him off. “Weed,” said Abraham, clipping in.

“People’s perception is with cannabis you’re going to gain weight when you start smoking it,” said Abraham. “I’m not saying this is going to happen to everyone, but I lost a bunch of weight.”

In the last few years, Damian Abraham has been very outspoken about the usefulness of cannabis. He’s the host of multiple VICE documentaries about the green world and has written essays about the positive effects of switching from anxiety medication like Ativan to medical marijuana. Abraham says he discovered how well pot worked for him after leaving his medication at home during an international tour and deciding to give weed another try at a stop in the Netherlands. It was the first time he had smoked in 15 years.

Dealing with anxiety is the main reason Damian Abraham aligned with pot, but the weight loss was a pleasant side effect. He lost more than 120 pounds since taking up weed. He also says he drinks a lot less soda. Another unexpected side effect is that his monstrous stage personality is taking a hiatus.

“I don’t take my shirt off anymore on stage,” said Abraham, “ever since I lost the weight it felt kind of weird…When I was bigger, and I took my shirt off, I felt like it was a liberating thing. As I lost weight it felt like I was trying to be a macho out of shape dude on stage.”

You can listen to the conversation with Damian Abraham on Best Show’s site. The weed stuff begins at around an hour and 50 minutes in.