Nicole Richie’s come a long way from being The Simple Life star who got popped for a DUI in 2006, then claimed the Vicodin she’d taken before driving the wrong way on a California freeway was for menstrual cramps. (No word on the medicinal purpose of the pot she’d also smoked.)

These days she’s owning up to her past mistakes, and sounding a hell of a lot more grown up than her previous party-girl friends.

She’s bucking the system, because admitting when you effed up definitely isn’t the Hollywood way. Check out these top five celebrity drug-bust excuses from the past and present:

Is it just me, or do you respect a celebrity about a thousand times more when they just admit they broke the law?

Written by Linda Sharps for CafeMom’s blog, The Stir.
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Read more: Celebrity Scandal, Paris Hilton, Celebrities, Jerry Hall, Celebrity Drugs, Lindsay Lohan, Jeremy London, Slidepollajax, Tatum O'Neal, Celebrity Drug Busts, Entertainment News