Tony Bennett Once Called For The Legalization Of Drugs After Whitney Houston's Death

Original story by Lucía Tedesco on El Planteo

At the age of 96, Tony Bennett (Anthony Dominick Benedetto), the singer who called for the legalization of drugs at a pre-Grammy party, has died. Bennett was a renowned jazz and popular music artist, one of the last crooners of the mid-20th century.

"I would like all the gentlemen and ladies in this room to commit to making our government legalize drugs," the artist said in front of a large audience. For Bennett, some personalities like Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse would not have died if they had not had to hide that they were drug users.

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The anti-prohibitionist position of this crooner rests on the idea that the doctors should be the ones who supply the users, that everything has to go through them and not through "gangsters who have to sell under the table." After these statements, made in 2012, some criticism appeared. But Bennett reported that he received support from several of those present.

Indeed, in a later interview he gave to Rolling Stone, he said that legalization would "eliminate all the gangsters who make people hide," reported The Guardian. He further clarified: "Once it's legal and everyone can do it, there's no longer the desire to do something that no one else can do."

Tonny Bennett and His Personal Experience with Substances

Finding out that a well-known artist has had a crisis and addiction problems to a substance does not surprise anyone. Tony Bennett was no exception, since in the 70s he nearly died of an overdose. But he had the chance to rely on his family to get ahead and be able to continue taking his message to the public.

What drugs exactly? When he was at risk of death, Bennett had been using large amounts of cocaine and marijuana. Had it not been for his wife at the time, Sandra Grant, who found him in the bathtub, the singer likely would have drowned. As quoted in his biography, "All the things you are: the life of Tony Bennet," the artist stated that he "used to take pills - the ones that take you up, the ones that lower you and the ones that make you sleep."

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With a brilliant career of more than seven decades, an immortal voice, and a passion for music that left an indelible mark on the art world, Bennett will be remembered for an admirable musical legacy. But also for standing up against the prohibitionists.

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Image by Andy Witchger, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons // Edited on Canva by El Planteo