ZAPPA:I don't drink or do hard drugs

GALLERY: When people think of Frank Zappa, most likely they conjure up an image of a musician who is into the drug scene. Is that the real Frank Zappa?

ZAPPA: No, not at all. I don't drink or do hard drugs. I've smoked less than ten marijuana cigarettes in my life. When I'm working on music with other musicians, like, say, practicing for a tour, I keep very strict standards: no drugs. They can do what they want on their own free time.

GALLERY: So what is your view on drugs?

Zappa on drugs

ZAPPA: According to libertarian philosophy – that part of libertarianism I adhere to – I own myself. The government doesn't own me. The government exists at my leisure because I, as an individual, give it the right to exist. The policeman has the right to carry a gun and enforce laws because you and I give him that right. If you decide to fuck up your life with drugs, you have that right. But you don't have the right to fuck up someone else's life. If an individual decides to participate in any kind of chemical alteration –  whether it be drinking too much alcohol, smoking marijuana or a regular cigarette, or taking some other kind of chemical substance – he has the right to do it without the government getting on his fucking back. Where I draw the line is when the individual's actions impinge on the safety and lifestyle of another person. There are people in occupations that are critical to the life and safety of others. So they cannot engage in those practices while on duty.

Circus Raves, No. 123 December 1975

FZ:"I'd rather be free inside of my mind. If you don't have enough money to beat the system, the least you can do is keep your self-respect and know what you think is not chemically induced by a governmental agency." 

 Interview by Bob Marshall, October 22, 198*

Now, let’s talk about the drug problem. 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. That’s a drug problem. I believe that people have the right to commit suicide. You can stick a gun in your mouth. You can stick a needle in your arm. You can do whatever you want, but you own your own body. I think you do. Drugs become a problem when the person who uses them turns into an asshole, and they also become a problem when the person who manufactures and distributes them turns into a politician. That’s the drug problem. Now, you want to fight the drug problem. You have to be realistic about what the problem is. The substance itself is not immoral. Without cocaine you’re going to have a hell of a time at the dentist’s office. You can’t say, “We have to burn ever coca plant”. Otherwise, no more Novocaine, buddy