The Music you listen to makes you a drug user?

Today was a very interesting day, it was suppose to be a good day, until I received a call. And the one on the other side was not too happy since according to his logic anyone that listens to ROCK or HOUSE music are without a shadow of a doubt STUPID and VETERAN DRUG USERS. Let’s put aside the fact that as a station, we need to compete with other stations out there to gain listenership and also increase our profile. And we cannot do this if we don’t inject new sounds into the station. But I digress, let’s get back to the Music and Substance abuse story.

Now to say that everyone that listens to Rock or house Music are drug users is uncalled for and it is a very biased sweeping statement, as the usage of drugs is personal choice and it may be “far fetched” to some, but it is possible to actually enjoy music without getting juiced up on substances. But wait, this is not just the issue of Rock or House music, but also an issue of musical taste that differs wildly due to the generation gap.

Let’s take a look at some megastars from a bygone era that had a history of Drug abuse and some actually died from it. Also let it be known that at their prime, the music that some of these singers brought was considered to be taboo and the cause of social ills.

1. Elvis Presley - the King Himself was a druggie
2. The Beatles were ardent drug users
3. Ricky Nelson - traces of cocaine, marijuana, and the painkiller Darvon were found in Nelson's blood in tests conducted after his death
4. James Brown took all manner of drugs throughout his career.
5. Jimi Hendrix - Widely associated with the use of psychedelic drugs, particularly lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)
6. The Rolling Stones – Also heavy drug users
7. Hank Williams - succumbed to a decades-long addiction, quietly dying of a drug and alcohol overdose in the back seat of his Cadillac

Now these are just to name a few. Now if I follow the logic of the angry person mentioned above, every single person now that were young in the 50’s,60’s or 70’s and listened to the singers listed above and others from their era would have at least participated in substance abuse at least once and god forbid they might have continued to this day. And of course the logical conclusion to that would be, we would be living in a dystopian society that has failed to progress due to being juiced up on drugs. But did that happen? Are we living in ruins of a once great civilization that fell due to the populace being occupied with substance abuse because they listen to a particular type of music? I believe if you look around you, you will find the answer.

So is it fair to be called a druggie just because of my musical preference? The answer is most definitely NO.

And just to be clear, the music these days is all about positive vibes and positive attitude enforcement, and the usage of drugs is very much a personal choice not a requirement. If someone wants to get drugged up that is their personal choice and they chose to destroy their own lives by doing so. Because in the end the music transcends everything else and just because you don’t understand it doesn’t necessarily make it bad.

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