Tim Allen talks politics and spending time in jail for cocaine charges

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Tim Allen is opening up about his past.

The 67-year-old star recently appeared on the "WTF with Marc Maron podcast" and discussed his time serving in jail on cocaine charges as a young man.

"I was an eff up," he admitted, per Yahoo Entertainment.

"After my old man died, I really just played games with people and told adults what they wanted to hear and then stole their booze," Allen recalled.

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The "Last Man Standing" star's father was killed in a car accident by a drunk driver when Allen was just 11, though his own struggles with alcohol had already begun by that point.

"Really I was Eddie Haskell [from 'Leave it to Beaver']: 'Yes, Mrs. Cleaver. No, Mrs. Cleaver,'" said Allen. "I knew exactly what adults wanted — make your bed, be polite, use a napkin — and then I'd go steal everything in the house."

Tim Allen opened up about his past jail time. (Getty Images)

His bad behavior came to a head in 1978 when he was arrested at the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport in Michigan while carrying over a pound of cocaine.

He'd later plead guilty to drug trafficking charges and, at 23, spent two years and four months in federal prison.

"We were a bunch of college kids — a bunch of the kids who overdid it," the "Home Improvement" alum said, noting that "two of us took [the punishment] for about 20 guys."

Allen admitted that he "was very contrite" after being arrested on account of his living a "terribly stressful existence." It was during his days awaiting sentencing that the star began to set goals for his life.

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Though he wasn't expecting such a long sentence, Allen said he "wanted to be able to come out with something."

"I just shut up and did what I was told," he recalled. "It was the first time ever I did what I was told and played the game... I learned literally how to live day by day. And I learned how to shut up. You definitely want to learn how to shut up."

Tim Allen spent over two years in prison on cocaine charges. (Kalamazoo Sheriff's Department)

Allen said that after eight months or so, he "got used to" being in prison and even had "OK times," such as Sundays when the food was better than usual.

Now, he's nearly 23 years sober and looks back on his drinking days with some regret, specifically recalling an instance in which he got blackout drunk and got behind the wheel of a car.

"I look back on those things, this is sober guy stuff, I had so much shame at the things that I did ... especially driving people around," he said. "Coming from a dad that was killed that way, it's difficult to get past it."

These days, Allen said he's feeling "grateful."

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"I love my life. I'm not any more mentally stable, I have the same issues I had," he explained. "Now, I can't hide from them."

Allen also talked politics.

"I just don't like — once I started making money — I had this silent partner [the government] that took almost half of my money and never gave me anything for it. That was the taxes," he said. "I've never liked taxes. Whoever takes the taxes and never tells me what they did with it, I'm a fiscal conservative person with money. That's it."

However, the star feels he's never found trouble because of his politics because he doesn't "preach anything."

LAST MAN STANDING: Tim Allen. (Photo by FOX Image Collection via Getty Images)

"What I've done is just not joined into — as I call it — the 'we culture.' I'm not telling anybody else how to live. I don't like that. 'We should do this,' 'We should do that,'" he explained.

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For example, he added with a laugh: "Once I realized that the last president pissed people off, I kind of like that. So it was fun to just not say anything. Didn't join in the lynching crowd."

While the actor said he had a nice relationship with Bill Clinton, he "just didn't think that Hillary should have been president."

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"In the end, you go the other direction. There's nothing personal about it," he said. "If you don't like it then wait 'til the next election."