Jodie Sweetin, former child star of “Full House,” opened up about her past alcoholism, drug addiction and path to recovery.

Sweetin began her lecture Thursday evening by telling the audience that some of her most painful moments brought her to where she is today.

She told the story of how she grew up as a young actress, playing the role of Stephanie on the popular sitcom “Full House.”

Sweetin became an alcoholic and addicted to methamphetamine by the time she was eighteen years old.

“At the end of two and half years of doing drugs, I had dropped 100 pounds and felt like hell. It stopped being fun and it became a necessity,” Sweetin said.

Sweetin talked about how her first husband left her because of her drug addiction and how close she came to almost alienating the people she loved.

She checked into rehab over two years ago and no longer uses drugs. She wanted to share her story with students and hoped it will help others who might be going through the same thing.

“This can happen to anybody,” Sweetin said.

A question and answer session followed after the lecture. Later Sweetin signed autographs for a line of people that circled around the University Union.

Christiana Casillas, freshman dietetics major, said she came to listen to Sweetin because she had heard through the tabloids about her drug addiction and wanted to hear the real version.

Renato Tecson, senior psychology major, said addiction is an issue discussed in his classes. He said drugs affect you mentally, emotionally and physically. It was good to hear about her road to recovery.

Many audience members indicated they still occasionally watch “Full House” and cheered Sweetin on when she said, “How rude.”

Sally King can be reached at [email protected]