How do musicians that actively talk about their illegal drug consumption not immediately get arrested, if their music acts as a confession?
In:
Talking about using drugs isn’t a crime. Nor is it a confession.
And, actually, in most places *using* drugs isn’t a crime. E.g., if you’re high, not making any trouble, not driving, and don’t have any drugs or drug paraphernalia *on you*, there’s not really much you can be arrested for.
What is a crime is *possessing* drugs, *selling* drugs, *operating a vehicle under the influence* of drugs, *creating a disturbance while under the influence* of drugs, etc.
For law enforcement to arrest someone for one of those crimes, they have to catch them possessing drugs, selling drugs, operating a vehicle under the influence, etc.
Just having said that you’ve used drugs at some point in the past isn’t enough to arrest, charge, and try someone for a drug-related crime. That requires law enforcement resources to surveil, investigate, and arrest that person *in the act* of committing the drug-related crime, as well as prosecutor resources to arraign and try them.
Possessing drugs is a minor offense; law enforcement doesn’t hunt people down for that. It’s too frequent and would take too many resources. Most possession charges arise from someone being stopped for suspicious behavior or for some other non-drug-related crime.
Selling drugs *might* be something law enforcement would pursue if they thought (a) the musician was selling in quantity and (b) they could catch that musician in the act. But (b) is not necessarily easy. They have to be at the right place at the right time and have reasonable cause to make the arrest.
And, obviously something like a DUI or drunk-and-disorderly actually requires the person in question to be caught in the act.
Because it’s not a confession, it’s a song. If they went around arresting people for what they say in songs it would erase multiple genres from metal to rap to country. Did that one band REALLY leave on a jetplane???
Simple: Their music doesn’t act as a confession. Music is a performance, you wouldn’t arrest an actor for being a murderer just because they play one in a movie would you? Similarly you wouldn’t arrest Eric Clapton for admitting he shot the sheriff, and you can’t arrest a rapper for saying they are “ridin’ dirty”.
All they would need to do is claim their statements were a performance (which they really shouldn’t need to do) and no judge would accept their performances as probable cause for a search.
It’s art so you can essentially talk or sing about whatever you want and say you’re in character or performing or creating in some way, that has nothing to do with the artist as a person.
well talking about using illegal drugs or even actually using them is not even illegal in most countries. it’s the possession, selling, cultivation etc. that is illegal.
Would that really be the best use of law enforcement resources? Plus they could just say they were joking.
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