In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Justin was asked about the 2003 "Punk'd" episode. He said, "I'll give you a little hint on that 'Punk'd' thing. That was back in my first-album creative days. That's why I looked the way I did, if that makes any sense to you." The reporter then asked Justin straight out if he had been high from smoking marijuana prior to the prank. Justin laughed and said, "Incredibly. Yeah, that was a trippy experience. That was why I was completely glassy-eyed. As a matter of fact, I was like, okay, I got to stop doing this. I don't do that anymore!"

Justin has been fairly open about his drug use in the past. Last year he told Observer Music Monthly magazine, "I'm just like everyone else…I've done my fair share of drugs…The drugs that I do have been done in my own private time. I've never been arrested - though that's not to say that I won't. I've done way too many drugs already. I've already inhaled and I've already - who knows?"