Sharon Stone Says She Quit Smoking Marijuana, Stopped Taking Stroke Medication

Sharon Stone is taking her health into her own hands ... cutting out weed and one of the medications she was prescribed following her nearly fatal 2001 stroke.

The "Casino" star says she's living a drug-free life ... telling Variety she decided to get off her stroke medication against her doctor's orders. She said it wasn't easy, recalling... "It was like going off of f***ing heroin. I was sick as a frigging dog for four and a half months."

Once she got off the medication, Sharon says she turned her attention to pot ... and she got sick when she stopped blazing.

Sharon thinks she got sick because "they put so much stuff" in cannabis products these days ... explaining, "It’s not like you’re pulling it out of the ground anymore. It’s not like when we were kids. I got pretty sick for a month. I went to my neurologist, and he said, 'Sharon, I’ve had people dying in the emergency room from marijuana.'"

As you know ... Sharon suffered a massive stroke and a 9-day brain hemorrhage in 2001 ... and she had to relearn to walk, talk, and read. She took years to fully recover, and the near-death experience altered her perspective on life.

Now that she's reworked her relationship with drugs, Sharon told Variety she is laser-focused on her creative spark ... painting and returning to modelling.

She also plans to star on Broadway and has some ideas brewing.

Sharon says in the past year she's reclaimed her life.