Drugs Are Bad m'kay?

Last week Mornings with Kerri-Anne featured a ten minute segment in which Kerri-Anne and a bunch of predictable drug "experts" banged on about the dangers associated with drug use and the destructive impact of drugs on individuals, families and society in general. Kerri-Anne then threw to the commercial break with an excerpt from........Riders on the Storm.

For. Fuck's. Sake.

"Drugs are bad m'kay. Now let's play out the segment with a bit of music from one of the heaviest doping bands in history."

Did they even realise? I would like to think it was just a case of some smart arse producer taking the piss but I've got a feeling it was more likely the work of some moron who didn't see the irony in what they were doing.

Anyway, this little episode got me thinking and I began to reflect on all the times I've heard conservative talkback radio hosts, and conservative people in general pour scorn and contempt on someone with a drug habit, yet claim to be a huge fan of a band or musician who took enough drugs to anaesthetise an entire herd of buffalo.

I will guarantee you that even the most hardcore anti-drug campaigner has at least one album in their collection made by people who were really, really high at the time. Even if it is Simon and Garfunkel.

In light of Channel Nine's little slipup I would like to nominate three Brisbane media personalities for the inaugural Kerri-Anne Kennerley Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Hypocrisy.

John Miller of 4BC: Hates drugs. Loves Led Zeppelin.

Peter Dick of 4BC: Hates drugs. Loves Fleetwood Mac.

Spencer Howson 612 ABC: Hates drugs. Loves The Beatles.

I'm not saying drugs are a source of enlightenment or pretending that they don't have incredibly destructive consequences. What I am doing is pointing out that drugs have, in their own way, fuelled and heightened the creativity of people who created a lot of the most enduring and enriching music of the last century. As a matter of fact you could probably take one of those cheesy lists of the "50 Greatest Albums of All Time" and feel fairly confident that a good proportion of those musicians were using plenty of "stimulants" when they created their most seminal works.

Just a thought.