Mick in Classic Rock Mag

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by Villavic

Cocaine eventually is bad, but we were still young kids. It didn’t hamper us, it just meant we stayed up for three or four days and did some good music.

Something that always intrigued me is that back then in the 70s, many people thought coke wasn't bad, or so I read. Stevie said, "No one told me it would give me a hole in my nose the size of Arizona." That's just one example, but I've seen plenty of biopics and documentaries (rock bands, Studio 54) where the excuse was that everyone was doing it and didn't know it was bad. God, if it was already illegal, they had to assume there was something wrong with it. And if it allowed you to stay up for two nights in a row, or more, don't tell me you didn't realize there was a toll to pay.

Maybe what they were able to get in those days was so pure that the deleterious effects were less evident. But, my God, if you do even ONE all-nighter, the way your body feels the next day would be enough to tell you it's bad. So, I don't buy that line of "no one told us it was bad for us." People knew smoking was dangerous long before the Surgeon General said so, right? Just the act of rolling up leaves, setting them on fire, and inhaling them...common sense would dictate that this is not a healthy choice. Some people recognized that, and others chose to smoke. Same with cocaine, IMO. Common sense should have been enough.

But, hey! What's a party without coke and cigs?