Updated

Comedian George Carlin (search) is entering a drug rehabilitation facility to shake his dependence on wine and a painkiller.

"I'm going into rehab because I use too much wine and Vicodin," the 67-year-old Carlin said in a statement released Monday by his publicist Jeff Abraham. "No one told me I needed this. I recognized the problem and took the step myself."

The name and location of the facility wasn't disclosed,

Carlin, who performs his standup comedy in Las Vegas showrooms and is the author of the best-selling "When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?" (search) on Hyperion Books, said he's never been treated in a rehabilitation facility.

"I know it isn't easy, but I'm highly motivated, and will do whatever's needed," Carlin said in the statement. "My levels of use are nowhere near the worst you hear about these days. I could easily have continued functioning at a good level for awhile, but my use would have progressed.

"I would have been in deeper trouble and I didn't want to tolerate that."

His acting credits include "With Six You Get Eggroll," (search) "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey" and "Jersey Girl" with Ben Affleck.