by Daniel Colussi | In commemoration of the recent decision by the Supreme Court Of Canada to allow Vancouver’s Insite to continue operating, I present my twelve favourite “drug songs”. Not merely a selection of the same tunes you’ve heard a million times (no offense to Neil Young or Lou Reed), this list covers the full range of the milieu. From cautionary tales of the perils of use and aural explorations of mind expansion to street-level tales that skip the morality and cut straight to the heart, it’s my own 12 step program to understanding – musically – what taking drugs is all about. Once you’ve given the tracks a listen after the jump, feel free to include your own favourites that I’ve missed in the comments below…

Destroyer “Kaputt”

Poetic social commentary with a bumping backbeat, this is Bejar’s chronicle of the back room dealings and alley-casualties of the seedy drug world that partially defines Vancouver, which is a port city after all.

Steppenwolf “Pusherman”

Steppenwolf’s give you the lay of the land in their paeon to the heroes and villains of the drug trade -the dealers and pushers, respectively.

Black Mountain “Druganaut”

No band is better qualified to write a song about getting high that Black Mountain, a band whose members are almost all longtime employees of the Portland Hotel Society.

Lemonheads “My Drug Buddy”

Evan Dando comes to Vancouver Nov. 4th, performing in it’s entirety his ’92 classic It’s A Shame About Ray at the Biltmore.  I’m psyched see him perform this classic track of early 90s slacker-heroin anthem about scoring drugs.

Dillinger “Cocaine In My Brain”

This classic from ’76 proves that reggae isn’t just for listening to while you smoke pot – cocaine will work too.

Kenny Rogers & The First Edition  “I Just Stepped In To See What Condition My Condition Is In”

A tripped out and totally unlikely psychedelic masterpiece from a man more closely associated with late night Time/Life info-mercials.

Brewer And Shipley “One Toke Over The Line”

A cautionary tale about going too far.

Ray Charles “Let’s Go Get Stoned”

Ray Charles’ 1966 classic approximates the feeling of being pleasantly high like no other song.

The Creation “How Does It Feel To Feel?”

A UK garage-psych classic that explores the dark allure of drug use and features the band’s signature violin-bowed-guitar leads.

The Dramatics “Devil Is Dope”

Straight from the ghetto comes this dark-soul classic that spells it out pretty clearly for you: if you use drugs then you’ll go to hell.

The Beatles “Doctor Robert”

A 60’s classic about the joys of legally procuring and using drugs, also captured by…

The Only Ones “Mr. Pharmacist”

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Zulu Records veteran and tunage aficionado Daniel Colussi is the Music Editor of Scout Magazine.