Drug abuse and mental illness are each formidable problems on their own, and when the two coincide they probably are even worse than the sum of their parts. As Kay has pointed out, polydrug use significantly complicates the situation even more.

Who knows how to solve this problem ? At least intelligent discussion is a good start. I think Spendocrat is repeating popular myth by claiming that the impurities in illicit drugs are a cause of the problem. There are plenty of studies which find no evidence of significant qualtities of harmful impurities in street drugs in Australia today (although there are plenty of incidences of one illegal drug being sold as another). Furthermore, marijuana is probably the illegal drug which is most commonly associated with mental health issues and I'm at a loss to see how this can in any way be blamed on impurities.

Harm minimisation usually means reasonably ineffective government campaigns. I agree that it would be very productive if music icons gave something back to the people who made them great, but seeing as how music stars seem to be more concerned about being cool than anything else I doubt that many of them would risk undermining their image by speaking at length on things like mental health or drug abuse.

‘I think Spendocrat is repeating popular myth…’
You better KNOW it before you accuse me of it, Andrew.

I wasn’t claiming these are the only cause. I was pointing out that they are one of the causes that people tend to forget. And it’s not a myth. If you look on pillreports.com, you’ll find assessments of levels of purity of the ecstasy that is on the street right now. It’s varied, to say the least. In relation to marijuana, the hydroponic kind is far more likely to be related to mental health issues, but even then, only if the person is already predisposed to the illness and almost invariably only when it is smoked in excess.

As far as this whole blaming rock stars thing that seems to be going on in these posts, I put to you the following hypothesis:

1. Rock stars make great music sometimes not just despite drugs, but actually because of them (The Beatles made a song called Yellow Submarine. Do you know how high they were?).
2. If we accept the above, we must accept that drugs have positive effects as well as negative.
3. Rock stars who are against drugs are usually lifeless boring mediocre sell-outs who instead of supposedly encouraging drug use, probably are out hawking Pepsi or something.
4. Neither has any particular effect on sales of the artist.
5. Rock stars don't advocate drugs but rather advocate personal choice, and assert that you should make up your OWN mind. Ooooh, scary thought, huh?
6. If a rock star makes the personal choice to take drugs, he/she should not have to lie to the public about it.
7. It’s not ‘Sex and milk and rock and roll’.

Alcohol and cigarettes are responsible for more deaths and illnesses than pot, heroin, ecstasy, acid and coke combined.

Any questions?

PS: A clarification, in my last post I meant to say ‘one or two states in the USA’. I forgot ‘USA’.
PPS: During the same trials they found evidence that MDMA also possibly helps bring cancer into remission. Is there anything it CANT do??

Sometimes i think these articles need some sort of gyroscope to keep them on track: how do we get from a discussion on the problems of youth, mental illness and drugs onto some stupid debate on the role of pop stars and drug taking? Jesus Wept!

These guys have posited a way forward for a problem ( not as big as one would think ) but a still a problem and the usual suspects come out guns a blazin with a plethora of crack pot ideas; pop stars and kick backs indeed!

The problem young people face is as the authors describe; part of it is born out of mickey mouse turf wars betweem health workers themselves - we now have such a purist approach to these issues we have developed a new suffering realted to "dual diagnosis" - ie you get pissed and you take drugs - then no one wants to know you; add to that the youth factor and you are well and truly in the too hard basket.

i think that the relationship between the music industry, drugs and mental illness does have a very relevant place in the discussion here - but not for the reasons listed above. as someone who works in both the music and the art industries, i am around many hugely creative people, and a lot of people who take drugs of all kinds. i am also around a high proportion of people who suffer from some form of mental illness, and who self-medicate using drugs, and alcohol.

it is not an easy thing to find that you do not fit into society, and it is a place that many young people, and many creative people, find themselves in. i know a lot of people who use drugs to escape the 'real' world, because they experience depression and other aspects of mental illness. they can not face their reality, and so they don't. for some, drugs open up their creativity. it is not done because it is 'cool', although there is at times pressure to participate. it is done because a) it is readily available, b) cause it is fun before it is not, and c) because it is an escape from the every day.

people who look at the music industry from the outside might see the results, but not necessarily the reasons why these things come about. it is not just as simple as creating an image. musicians are generally pretty messed up people. so are artists. they are looking for ways to get through their lives, 'cause their dealing mechanisms are not all that great. and so, this is where this relates back to the article... young people everywhere, from times immemorial, have felt like they did not belong. their coping mechanisms are not always well developed. sometimes, they just want an escape. and that is why drugs offer such relief.

btw - it is not just young people who do drugs. and people with mental illness self-medicate at all ages (hello alcoholism).

Thank you Rowan and Nich

What I found disturbing in regards to drug use in the media was the Kate Moss saga, and when mentioning the situation with a 16 year old she said to leave her alone because it is normal for her and everyone knew she did beforehand. Because she got caught by the media she shouldn't be banned from her contacts as it doesn't hurt her work. I found it disturbing that the girl thought that drugs do not inhibate your work abilities.

‘I found it disturbing that the girl thought that drugs do not inhibate (sic) your work abilities.’
What, you’ve never gone to work hungover? Or were you talking about drugs at the same time as working? Cause…I drink coffee all day.

This is what frustrates me, everyone has an opinion on drugs, but hardly anyone actually knows they’re talking about. Firstly, they lump all illegal drugs together – pot = CRACK! Secondly, they think alcohol isn’t included, or high up on the list of ‘dangerous’ party drugs, when the reality is it’s probably second only to amphetamines.

The last time I had acid, I understood that the way we see the world normally is like peering through a tiny tube with one eye shut, that what we believe isn’t necessarily the truth, it’s only what we’ve learned. I watched myself grow older in the mirror and realised that time is an illusion, just like everything else we perceive, and that right now exists forever. I understood that we are all one, there’s never any need to be afraid, or to suffer, that the only true god is love and it exists in all of us. Then the light fixture on the roof explained to me through physical expression how freedom from fear is freedom forever.

Now if that isn’t a threat to society, I don’t know what is.

Yep, good thing it’s illegal, we can’t have everyone realise that we’re actually all one! What would happen to the arms industry? The economy would be wrecked if everyone realised it’s an illusion!

See, this is what happens when I don't have anything specific to debate on...I start to ramble. :P