Cocaine Chic

By Lindsay Blair

Kate Moss has been modeling since she was fourteen. In 2005, Kate Moss, then aged 35, was pictured taking cocaine. More recently, Lindsay Lohan was allegedly found to be in possession of the same drug. In September 2008, George Michael was arrested for having crack cocaine in a public lavatory. The list goes on…

‘Cocaine Kate’ (Moss) as she was dubbed by British newspaper, The Mirror, lost modeling contracts with international companies, such as Chanel and Burberry. Months later she was back on top of the model industry, scandal forgotten where she remains today. And in 2007 she made it onto the Forbes richest supermodels list, with an estimated worth of $74m. Not bad.

Young people are influenced by what they see in the media, studies show. Celebrities are often pictured in compromising positions, but no real consequences seem to be faced by those involved. The question is to what extent does ‘cocaine chic’ influence the young people engulfed in the world of celeb.

Celebrities can play an important part in the development of adolescent identity and certain young people may use celebrity drug use as a means or an explanation of their own actions, depending on whether the idols report positively or negatively on the experience, according to a study of celebrity culture and its influences, by Karl Witty, an NCCDP Researcher.

“When young people have a weak attachment to peers or parents, or they may have a chaotic home life, the celebrity may be adopted in an almost surrogate role.” Says Witty.

“In recent years the issue of celebrity drug use has come to the forefront of public thinking due to some high profile stories, such as Kate Moss’ alleged cocaine use” adds Witty, who put together the study The Effects of Drug Use by Celebrities upon Young People’s Drug Use and Perception of Use in 2006.

The issue of celebrity culture and the way it affects society is a widely discussed topic shown in many studies.

Dr John Maltby, of the University of Leicester, told The Independent newspaper: "Psychological theory suggests that people can make attachments to a number of different people as well as their parents. A hundred years ago, the range of people to influence adolescent socialisation was restricted to peers, relatives, neighbours and teachers. Today, young people are exposed to influential figures through popular culture." This may include celebrities and attachments to images seen in the media says Maltby.

The use of drugs, such as Class A cocaine, by celebrities tends to glamorize drug use, according to a BBC news report. The report states that dealing too leniently with celebrity drug users, sends out the wrong message to young people. In the UK, celebrities charged with possession of drugs often face lighter charges including rehab stints or fines, which don’t regularly cause problems for multi-millionaire celebrities. But in the United States, probation sentences can last years and offenders face harsher and more specific community service charges. A music artist may have to donate revenue from a concert to drug rehabilitation centres or even to the courts.

Legal limitations may not stop certain celebrities from taking drugs, but the consequences for ‘ordinary’ people may be very different.

“Celebrities have an amazing power. They can make anything look intriguing. They set trends we never thought of. We want to be them. We may even wish we were.” Said Laura Leigh Fields, a student in Virginia.
Psychology professors, Susan Boon and Christine Lomore studied celebrity perceptions. The study investigated young adults’ judgement and the degree to which celebrity idols influence their sense of identity and feeling of self-worth. The study looked into the perceptions of drug use and found that 75 percent of young people had, at some time in their lives, had a strong attraction to a celebrity and that 59 percent would have been influenced by some aspect of their attitude or beliefs. The national rate of people age twelve and over who used cocaine in the last year was measured at 2.4 percent, the percentage of people aged twelve and over in New York State who used drugs is recent months lies at 9.08 percent, according to data in the New York Times.

But despite extensive research into how far celebrities affect people in the sense that celebrities are idolized, there is less evidence suggesting a direct link with celebrity drug allegations and people taking drugs, just because their favourite celeb was seen doing so, according to Witty.
He said: “The influence of celebrities must not be overstated. Young people do not just form opinions on drugs and drug use solely from media personalities. Young people are informed about drugs and drug use from a variety of sources.”

Further in Witty’s study he mentions: ‘While it is easy to dismiss such behaviour (celebrity drug taking) as provisions for our voyeuristic pleasure, a distraction from the dissatisfactions and pressures of contemporary life, it is unclear as to what effect the reporting of the subject has on young people’s drug related problems’.

‘It may be that the more young people see positive depictions of drugs and drug use, the more likely they are to internalize these values.’

And with Amy Winehouse still allegedly battling addictions and popping up in gossip columns everywhere, the debate continues.

Credits: Image #1: Daily Mirror, 2005, Image #2: The Sun, 2005