Babyshambles singer given unconditional bail

Politicians say they should set an example, but are rock and pop stars good, bad or indifferent in their influence on drugtaking among young admirers? This article surveys the myths and the facts, and asks - who gains from associating popular music with the nation's drug problem? (Member log-in required)

Article on 60s song lyrics about drug use which concludes that when, sooner or later, an urban child - who lives in the ordinary world, not in the pop world where a drug conviction can be shrugged off - is offered a marijuana cigarette or a dose of LSD, he will remember them not as something his health and hygiene teacher spoke warningly about, but as something Mick Jagger, or John Lennon, or Paul MacCartney has used and enjoyed.