Harrison fird’s son goes into drug addiction rehab

By Laura Benjamin

Showbusiness Reporter

Harrison Ford’s teenage son is having treatment to curb an addiction to marijuana.

Malcolm Ford, 17, has been going to a rehabilitation clinic in Los Angeles for the past year.

His father, star of the Indiana Jones and Star war films, often accompanies him to the therapy sessions, which he attends several times a week.

Ford and his former wife Melissa Mathison enrolled their son in the programme last year when he turned 16.

The couple divorced this year after separating in 2001, and Malcolm is said to have been deeply affected by their split – an issue which has been discussed in rehab.

A friend of the family said: «The kid had a big marijuana problem and the programme is specifically tailored to adolescents with addiction».

At first Malcolm was attending the programme four days a week, with each daily session costing about &80. On several of these occasions the parents of the teenagers enrolled also showed support to their kids.

Everyone introduces themselves. Malcolm would get up and say, «My name is Malcolm and I am a drug addict».

«Then Harrison would get up and say, «My name is Harrison and I’m here to support my son Malcolm».

Ford, 62, often attended the sessions with his former wife, although, onlookers said they looked far from being comfortable together.

«You could clearly see the tension between them», said one. «They both looked very uncomfortable playing a couple».

«Melissa still seems very hurt and bitter about Harrison leaving her and taking up with Calista Flockhart».

Ford and Miss Flockhart, star of Ally McBeal, have been a couple for three years and share a house in Los Angeles.

But the 39-year-old actress is thought to have been banned from accompanying her boyfriend to Malcolm’s therapy sessions on the instructions of Miss Mathison.

«I was told that when Malcolm suggested that Calista should come to his therapy sessions, his mother said «no», the family friend said.

Ford and Miss Mathison are said to have clashed over issues raised during the meetings, such as who their son should remain friends with.

«Last year Malcolm and Georgia went on holiday to Harrison’s Wyoming ranch with their mother», said the family friend. While they were there, Malcolm spent some time with one of his old friends who he used to smoke marijuana with.

«Therapists always advise people seeking treatment to avoid contact with people who may cause them to stray again – and Harrison agrees with that. He went mad when he discovered about this incident».

Miss Mathison, a screenwriter, won an estimated &50 million settlement in her divorce from Ford, one of the biggest such deals ever awarded in Hollywood.

Ford agrees to split future royalty earnings from films he had made during the marriage – including two Indiana Jones movies, Witness and The Fugitive – as part of the settlement.

In addition, he was to pay around & 25 000 a year for the upkeep of Malcolm and his 14-year-old sister Georgia until both turn 21.

Last night a spokesman for the film star refused to comment on his son’s treatment.

l.benjamin@dailymail.co.uk

(«Daily Mail», Friday, September 24, 2004)