It isn’t a mystery that “drugs” and alcohol are stereotypically a part of the whole rock and roll scene. If you play guitar and play in a band then you are automatically pinned as a “drug user.” In a way, that’s fine with me. Even I dabble in the realm of marijuana when I feel the urge to. The one drug that I absolutely have no tolerance or appreciation for is heroin. Nothing about it appeals to me and I hate to know that it has taken the lives of my favorite rock artists such as Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley and Bradley Nowell. All of these artists contributed something special to the music scene and it is a shame that they were taken away by a substance that they couldn’t control.

All drugs have a tendency, even cigarettes, to cause a person to become addicted to it. Unfortunately, there are so many people famous and unfamous who fall into these pitfalls. Luckily for me, I see how these things affect other people and it gives me a warning on not to mes with these types of substances. For instance, I just saw a documentary on John Cazale who was an actor who portrayed Fredo in The Godfather. He was a great actor who went on to play many other roles with Al Pacino. He only acted in about six great movies before he died of lung cancer. John was a habitual cigarette smoker who enjoyed smoking cigarettes. One day, he started coughing up blood and was diagnosed with lung cancer. I’m already not a habitual cigarette smoker, but when I heard about his situation, I knew that cigarettes were no longer the way to go. Occasionally maybe at a bar, but never will I buy a pack. I never want to be walking down the street with my wife and kids and then start coughing up blood out of nowhere. That’s not attractive.

All in all, moderation is key, but some things you can’t be moderate about. Heroin is like a leech that once attached to you, it sucks the life out of you and leaves you as nothing but a rusted corpse. Cigarettes could be moderated but it still can cause you to become heavily addicted to it and cause you to have the same consequence as heroin. It’s best to ask yourself why do you do certain things to evaluate whether doing those things are good for you or bad for you. I’m all about being the greatest rock star to ever live but I don’t want to die of an addiction to prove it.

Later Days…