Select Interview


	[exerpt from Select magazine, England 1995/6?
	 Submitted by Danielle Kaiser ]

   ...

The Black Crowes lyricist and frontman is usually thought of as a spliff 
chainsmoker on the Marley scale.

Chris: "The first drug I ever took wasn't herb, it was speed. I was 16 
and I'd been kicked off the basketball team for -ha!- having an attitude 
problem, believe it or not. My dad was so mad he made me join this league 
of drop-out kids who'd never made a team. It was actually fun, but the 
first game I played this kid gave me a concussion - we were supposed to 
be going to a party afterwards so my friend gave me some speed. They were 
these little cross top pills, and I was like, Fuck it man! I'm fucking 
concussed! And he said, Man, take these and you'll feel fine...

Peer pressure. I guess I was pretty scared, drugs scared me, they still 
fucking scare me and I've tried pretty much everything except PCP, I 
don't think thats my thing. And I would never do acid again, it's just 
too fucking much. One of the worst things that ever happened was my first 
psychedelic experience with mushrooms. I don't really remember too much 
about it other than that it was fucking insane.

I don't consider myself a druggie. I smoke pot occassionally, and I don't 
really think of grass as a drug. For me, herb is a constant. I don't know 
how to describe it. I don't think its cool. I'm not proud of it or 
anything. It's just something that gives me time, my thoughts, they way I 
think, it helps give me space, my own vantage point.

Contrary to what you might think, I don't smoke it all the time. I can go 
without it for weeks. It's not like, Ooooh Christ! Where's the fucking 
pot? OK, I'm smoking it right now...Would I recommend it? It's nice grass 
but no, I would never tell anyone to do something they didn't want to do. 
I don't want to die. I don't want to hury anyone and I don't want to go 
to prison. It's a fucked up world. I don't care if they legalize it - 
they won't - I care that kids who aren't bad kids go to jail for smoking 
pot. Like I said, it's a fucked up world."