A talent wasted!

     As an artist, musician and teacher of the Arts I am in the same position as many in mourning the passing of Whitney Houston.  As a teacher of children at their most vulnerable, where a single phrase can affect them for a lifetime, I see her death and those artists of the past who suffered the same fate, see this as a teachable, albeit tragic moment. 
     Drugs and alcohol are the cancer which affects not only the creative process of artists but the lives of millions of Americans.  No matter which political party has been in power, all parties have tried and failed to change America's appetite for mind affecting drugs, for either escape from the present or for the mistaken notion that the drugs will enhance the creative process.  From the "Dare" programs to the "Just Say No" campaigns we as a people have failed in our attempt to impress on a large number of our young people the dangers in the use of mind altering drugs. 
     We are fighting a losing battle.  It is no wonder.  We glorify the entertainment icons for the frequency in which they inhabit rehab facilities.  We name such facilities after a former First Lady even.  We allow accomplished athletes myriad "second chances"  when alcohol and other drugs are found to affect their performance.  The phrase "Better living through chemistry" has taken on new meaning when on television our young people are bombarded with ways to improve their lives from body odor to enhanced sexual prowess to being a better person to quiting other forms of addiction.  Take this pill and you will quit smoking, take this pill and you will be ready for love, take this pill and you will be a happy person again.  It is no wonder that we are losing this battle. 
     We haven't built in the proper attitude to the use of the science of enhancing our lives, making our lives more endurable, more comfortable, better in some way or overcome some personal malady.  I'm not sure we can.  How can you tell a teenager not to drink alcohol when as adults we come home from work and relax with that martini, glass of wine or beer.  Is it enough to ban all alcohol from the home or scream "Do as I say, not as I do."?  Is it better to teach the appropriate use of alcohol by providing the proper example or forbid it altogether?  I wish I knew the answer.  What I do know, what I do believe, is that great artist from Gene Krupa, Jimmy Hendriks, Janis Joplin, others and most recently Whitney Houston ravaged their bodies with drugs and alcohol, wasted their talents and died too soon.  The list is long and tragic and it didn't need to be this way.