ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 23, 1996 TAG: 9608230029
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-15 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID J. CHAMBERLIN
TO DEAL with its growing substance abuse problem, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences' nonprofit arm, MusiCares, has begun a confidential abuse-referral program made up of interventionists, psychotherapists, help lines and a fund to help musicians who wouldn't normally be able to afford rehabilitation. At its first major meeting, some 400 music-industry executives attended. Some signed up for future action.
But is this well-intentioned and laudable intervention enough, or should the label execs tear a page out of Hollywood's script?
Since Kurt Cobain's April 5, 1994, smack-fueled overdose/suicide, the music world has been ripped apart by drug-related deaths.
The list of early exits has been mounting at a record pace: Smashing Pumpkins' keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin, Sublime's Brad Nowell, Blind Melon's Shannon Hoon, former Replacement Bob Stinson, Skinny Puppy's Dwayne Goettel, Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia, D.O.A.'s Ken Montgomery and Hole's Kristen Pfaff.
The list of those linked to drug use or drug-related arrests grows almost as quickly as the mountain of political promises this campaign season. And those are just the famous names. Hundreds of musicians and music industry personnel struggle with their addictions out of the media limelight.
The motion-picture industry faces a similar problem with drugs and actors. But after the recent arrest of actor Robert Downey Jr. for possession of heroin, crack cocaine and an unloaded .357 Magnum, a new side of Hollywood has emerged that is taking a much harder line on hiring those with drug problems.
``There is a new ambience that's tough and hard and unyielding,'' Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, said in a July 26, 1996, article in the Los Angeles Times. ``When the average cost of making and marketing a movie has gotten up to $54 million, the tolerance level for drug-taking has gone to zero. For the first time, people are becoming pariahs on movie sets because of their drug habits. It looks like we've found a really first-class, efficient way to cut down the drug use among talented people; the refusal to hire them.''
Tom Pollock, former chairman of the MCA Motion Picture Group, refused to hire River Phoenix while at Universal because he had heard stories of his drug use. While some filmmakers and studio execs still hire those with drug problems, the level of tolerance for substance abusers is going down.
``While we are not policemen and have no obligation to go out and police people's lives, I think we do have an absolute obligation when we know of a person who is an abuser not to do anything that would encourage that abuse, including hiring him,'' Pollock told the Los Angeles Times. ``If there's a drug- or alcohol-abuse situation, I think it's the policy of studios not to hire them, if they know about it. It doesn't help our society, it's not good for business, and it doesn't help the abuser to be hired and given more money to continue it."
The Smashing Pumpkins finally took matters into their own hands in the middle of their worldwide tour in July, severing a nine-year relationship with drummer Jimmy Chamberlin after he was charged with heroin possession when police discovered he was using drugs with Melvoin at the time of his death. The band's actions have forced the postponement of 12 concert dates, costing the Pumpkins and their label, Virgin Records, a handsome sum.
More proof that drug-addicted artists cost money is found in the drug-possession arrest and subsequent court-ordered drug rehabilitation of the Stone Temple Pilots' frontman Scott Weiland, which forced the cancellation of the Pilots' entire summer tour, and cost everyone involved a pretty penny.
Increasingly, some music industry leaders, like Ron Stone of Gold Mountain Entertainment, are willing to take a stand against drug abuse. ``We had a horrible experience with Kurt Cobain, and from that day on, we have made a concerted effort to try and not be involved in a business relationship that is infected with drugs,'' Stone said.
``We have dropped four platinum acts that have done drugs, for the reason of their doing drugs. We've put our money where our mouth is very quietly by dropping them and distancing ourselves from artists who have had drug problems,'' Stone added.
MusiCares is a truly laudable effort, but one that may not go far enough. Until the music industry, like the motion picture industry, loses enough money to take a unified stand against substance abuse, this concert of death and decadence is likely to continue.
David J. Chamberlin is an associate producer of Sweet! Digizine and an adviser to a number of organizations, including the Family Research Council. He lives in the Los Angeles area.
- Knight-Ridder/Tribune
LENGTH: Medium: 86 linesby CNB