ONE MAN'S UTOPIA
“A drug is not bad. A drug is a chemical compound. The problem comes in when people who take drugs treat them like a license to behave like an asshole.”
-Frank Zappa
When researching the chemical effects that smoking cigarettes have on the brain, there were many articles that said smoking alters the flow of opioids, affecting regions of the brain important to emotions and craving. This means that that “feel good”, calming sensation many smokers talk about is a real thing, but to say that smoking brings about a sub-awareness or insensitivity that parallels the use of other harder drugs is rather extreme and, from what I’ve read, untrue. After reading about caffeine and its effects on the brain, all that I concluded was that it caused a heightened sense of awareness but not an increase in intellectual abilities. Therefore, I do not feel that Zappa was applying a double standard in demanding complete sobriety of his musicians. Also, I do not find it unreasonable to ask sobriety of his musicians for they are still in working environment and, as Zappa said, his music – especially in its later years – became very intricate and complex and to have it properly executed required concentration and a clear state of mind, not one hindered by substance abuse. Secondly, research aside, I can say from my own experiences with people on drugs, that there is absolutely no comparison to the mental state of someone who is smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee to that of someone who is doing harder drugs like weed, coke or acid. The latter has the ability to reveal a completely different person than the one that you previously knew sober. I cannot really give an opinion based on personal experimentation seeing as drugs were not something I dabbled in, but I can say that I do not believe that it’s a matter of “understanding” them. I have seen countless strangers and friends on drugs and I think refusing to indulge in that loss of control that can bring you outside of your mind does not make you narrow minded. I don’t need to experiment with jumping off of bridges to know that it is not going to be good for me. Barry Miles’ theory that Zappa’s attitude towards drugs was strongly influenced by his experience with incarceration definitely seems to hold truth. If not motivated by his negative experience with incarceration, Zappa certainly seemed motivated to keep himself and his band members away from drugs for the sake of his music and trying to avoid giving the authorities any excuse to “shut them down”. In an interview Zappa said, “If you’re traveling around with a band that says in their lyrics some of the things that I say, it would be best if you didn’t give a government agency the opportunity to take you away for potential infringement of some peculiar regulation.” I appreciate Zappa’s stance in regards to drugs because I find it refreshing and also a relief to come across someone who managed to be so different, controversial and out there just for who he was, and not artificially altered or defined. I find that many people turn to drugs today either to satisfy a particular image and reputation or as an excuse to let go and use drugs as a mask to hide behind. Whereas, I find that if you are truly seeking to lose yourself in discovering what is the purest expression of who you really are and what you wish to represent, a sober mind is the clearest way to find it… and remember, for that matter.
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