Drug and alcohol use and creativity have long been linked in the popular imagination. But while anecdotal evidence about the sector’s over reliance on mood-altering and mind-altering substances is widespread, recent studies – such as Entertainment Assist’s 2016 survey, Working in the Australian Entertainment Industry: Final Report, conclusively demonstrate that levels of alcohol and drug use are much higher in the arts than the general population.
The statistics are – excuse the pun – sobering. According to the data, artists and arts workers consume alcohol at double the rate of the general population; methamphetamine use is eight times greater; cocaine use is 12 times greater; and the use of pain killers for non-medical reasons is seven times greater.
