Shooting stars, fallen angels

Last week, Lee Jasper of the Greater London Authority joined with the Vice-President of Colombia in condemning Kate Moss for ‘glamorising drug use’. Let’s unpick this statement. Did Kate Moss make any public statement extolling the joys of drug use? No. Somebody took a clandestine photo in a studio, well away from the public gaze allegedly showing Kate Moss snorting cocaine. This photo was then splashed all over the tabloids followed by a storm of faux moral outrage about celebrity drug use. The same thing happened to Pete Doherty and infamous ‘girl and syringe’ photo – and with anybody able to take a shot with their mobile in dark places, no doubt this type of ‘expose’ as a ‘nice little earner’ will increase. But whatever one might think of the antics of the rich and famous - can such people be genuinely condemned for actively glamorising drug use? And why does it just attach to drugs? Was Wynona Ryder condemned for ‘glamorising’ shoplifting?

Ever since July 1966, when Donovan became one of the first British pop stars to be convicted of a drug offence – it has become a ‘given’ that especially on the question of drug use, celebrities have a moral duty to be on best behaviour because of the influence they have on young people. At one level this is a ‘common sense’ view. Major rock stars, for example, sell truckloads of albums, their posters festoon bedroom walls and they sell out their world tours. But it demonstrates a woeful lack of understanding about young people and drugs, to imagine that just because Mr Big Name is exposed as a coke user that his legion fans will follow suit. Did ecstasy use increase among Oasis fans because Noel Gallagher said that using E was no more abnormal than drinking tea?

Are celebrities just easy targets because they rarely fight back - or is this just being naïve? Should celebrities who rely on the business generated from teenage income and who deliberately court publicity, be more responsible in their personal habits knowing how much press interest there will be?

For a case study of the media's portrayal of celebrity drug use and a list of further reading, see this week's Focus article on DrugData Update (http://drugscope.blogspot.com) on Friday.