I started writing a reply to 'Somebloke's' post about drugs , which , though I have no direct experience of  apart from alcohol
(twice smoked a few puffs of cannabis in my teens , made me sick both times) was becoming long so I'll write my thoughts here .
Why is anyone stupid enough to try heroin or crack ?
Could be immaturity , a self-destructive streak or  the illusions of invincibility that most of us tend to have in our teens .
Also it does'nt help that some try to argue that the dangers are hugely over-rated and that it's not easy to become addicted .
Maybe a very few people might 'recreationally' use heroin at weekends and live  otherwise 'normal' lives , but that is I'm sure extremely rare .
And I suspect that some addicts want to seduce others into becoming addicts not just to make a profit by being  'small time' dealers  but also because , by getting others to become like them , they feel less alone .
And then there are the truly evil 'pimps' who , reportedly , deliberately get girls addicted so they can control them .
Then there's that insufferable drug addict Pete Doherty who some see as some sort of talented bohemian romantic hero , though what I've heard of his music sounds worse than average to me , because he's young and good looking , writes poetry and is associated with the 'glamorous model' Kate Moss .
Amy Winehouse is undoubtedly talented , and if she proves unable  / unwilling to tackle her serious drug / alcohol addictions and to get her career back on track then that'll be a great shame not just for her but for the cd-buying , soul / jazz loving public .  If she were not to recover , and be dead by 25 then that would be just awful , terribly sad , but at least might influence some against taking up her reportedly druggy , boozy lifestyle .
The late 'Sid Vicious' of the Sex Pistols posessed very little talent though the second half of the documentary movie 'The Filth and the Fury' , chronicling his decline into sordid , terrifying , hellish heroin addiction gives a very powerful  , very real anti - drugs message .
So Tragic that , as you wrote 'Somebloke' , so many brilliant musicians
ruined their lives through drugs , and as you say the dangerous , entirely untrue myth that heroin somehow enhances musical creativity may still prevail in some circles .