Donovan - Drug Bust

Drug Bust

In mid-1966, Donovan became the first high-profile British pop star to be arrested for possession of marijuana. Donovan's drug use appears to have been moderate, and was mostly restricted to cannabis—with occasional use of LSD and mescaline, and he was not indulging on the scale of friends like John Lennon and Brian Jones. Donovan's use of LSD is referred to in many of his lyrics, including "The Trip", "Sunshine Superman", "Wear Your Love Like Heaven", and "Epistle To Dippy".

Public attention was drawn to his marijuana use by the TV documentary, A Boy Called Donovan, broadcast in early 1966, which showed the singer and friends smoking cannabis at a party thrown by the film crew. However, it now appears that the Drug Squad already had many British pop stars in their sights, and Donovan's arrest proved to be the first in a long series of busts involving members of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. The arrest garnered a great deal of publicity, and in early 1967, Donovan was the subject of a controversial exposé published in the British tabloid News of the World.

According to Donovan's autobiography, the article was based on an unauthorised interview given by an ex-girlfriend of his closest friend, Gypsy Dave. The Donovan article was the first instalment in a three-part series, "Drugs & Pop Stars—Facts That Will Shock You", but while some claims made by the writers may have been true, it was quickly shown that others were false. The most notorious instance was that of the News of the World reporter's claiming to have spent an evening with Mick Jagger, who (he alleged) discussed his drug use and offered drugs to companions. After publication it was discovered that the reporter had mistaken Brian Jones for Jagger, and Jagger immediately sued the newspaper for libel.

Among other supposed revelations were claims that Donovan and other stars including members of The Who, Cream, The Rolling Stones, and The Moody Blues regularly smoked marijuana, used other illicit drugs, and held parties where the recently banned hallucinogen LSD was used, specifically naming The Who's Pete Townshend and Cream's Ginger Baker as LSD users.

It emerged much later that the News of the World reporters were using their access to pop stars to gather information and pass it to the police. In the late 1990s, an article in The Guardian asserted that it was News of the World reporters who alerted the police about the party at Keith Richards's house, "Redlands", which was raided on 12 February 1967.

Although Donovan's was not as sensational as the later arrests of Jagger and Richards, it had a serious effect on his career—because of the charges he was refused entry to the US until late 1967, and although he had originally been invited to be part of the all-star bill at the Monterey International Pop Festival in June that year, he was unable to perform.