DRUGS
The link between drugs and
music explained by science
By Ian Hamilton, Harry Sumnall & Suzi Gage
For centuries, musicians have used drugs to enhance creativity and listeners have used drugs to
heighten the pleasure created by music. And the two riff off each other, endlessly. The relationship
between drugs and music is also reflected in lyrics and in the way these lyrics were composed by
musicians, some of whom were undoubtedly influenced by the copious amounts of heroin, cocaine
and “reefer” they consumed, as their songs sometimes reveal. Acid rock would never have happened
without LSD, and house music, with its repetitive 4/4 beats, would have remained a niche musical
taste if it wasn’t for the wide availability of MDMA (ecstasy, molly) in the 1980s and 1990s.
And don’t be fooled by country
music’s wholesome name.
Country songs make more
references to drugs than any
other genre of popular music,
including hip hop.
Under the influence
As every toker knows, listen-
ing to music while high can
make it sound better. Recent
research, however, suggests
that not all types of cannabis
produce the desired effect.
The balance between two
key compounds in cannabis,
tetrahydrocannabinol and
cannabidiols, influence the
desire for music and its plea-
sure. Cannabis users reported
that they experienced greater
pleasure from music when
they used cannabis containing
cannabidiols than when these
compounds were absent.
iconz magazine
Listening to music – without
the influence of drugs – is
rewarding, can reduce stress
(depending upon the type of
music listened to) and improve
feelings of belonging to a
social group. But research sug-
gests that some drugs change
the experience of listening to
music.
Clinical studies that have
administered LSD to human
volunteers have found that the
drug enhances music-evoked
emotion, with volunteers
more likely to report feelings
of wonder, transcendence,
power and tenderness. Brain
imaging studies also suggest
that taking LSD while listening
to music, affects a part of the
brain leading to an increase
in musically inspired complex
visual imagery.
Pairing music and drugs