Zappa did not use illegal drugs. He tried
cannabis ten times, but without any pleasure, and "never used LSD, never used cocaine, never used heroin or any of that other stuff."[SUP]
[204][/SUP] Zappa stated, "Drugs do not become a problem until the person who uses the drugs does something to you, or does something that would affect your life that you don't want to have happen to you, like an airline pilot who crashes because he was full of drugs."[SUP]
[205][/SUP] He was a regular
tobacco smoker for most of his life, and strongly critical of anti-tobacco campaigns.[SUP]
[206][/SUP] While he disapproved of drug use, he criticized the
War on Drugs, comparing it to
alcohol prohibition, and stated that the
United States Treasury would benefit from the decriminalization and regulation of drugs.[SUP]
[198][/SUP] Describing his philosophical views, Zappa stated, "I believe that people have a right to decide their own destinies; people own themselves. I also believe that, in a democracy, government exists because (and only so long as) individual citizens give it a 'temporary license to exist'—in exchange for a promise that it will behave itself. In a democracy, you own the government—it doesn't own you."[SUP]
[198][/SUP]