Zac Efron's friends 'worried sick' he is back on drugs

Photo: BANG Showbiz - BANG Showbiz. All rights reserved.

Zac Efron's friends 'worried sick' he is back on drugs

Zac Efron's friends are "worried sick" he has fallen off the wagon.

The 'High School Musical' actor ran into trouble in an area of downtown Los Angeles notorious for being awash with drug dealers and dangerous at night on Sunday (23.03.14), and pals claim they don't believe he had driven there in search of sushi - as he told police - and fear he is back on drugs.

Zac admitted last year he had undergone two spells in rehab, and although he didn't disclose what he was treated for, it has widely been rumored he had problems with cocaine.

A source told TMZ.com: "Zac's a loner. He goes out rarely and the idea of him driving for miles to go to some sushi restaurant in downtown L.A. after midnight is preposterous."

Zac, 26, had been accompanied by a man he called his bodyguard during the incident, which he told police had taken place when he had run out of gas on his way to a restaurant. He claimed as they were sitting in their car and waiting for a tow truck, he threw a bottle out of the window and it smashed on the pavement near the alleged attackers. He said three men confronted them because they believed the bottle had been deliberately thrown at them. Two men attacked the bodyguard, then Zac got hit on the mouth when he tried to help.

However, sources say Zac's friend - who has requested to remain anonymous - isn't a bodyguard at all, but a convicted drug dealer who has been hanging around the star a lot recently.

Zac also suffered a broken jaw last year when he claimed to have slipped on a fountain in his house.