Gwyneth Paltrow recently joked on “The Late Late Show With James Corden” about how you could get away with more in the ’90s. There were no smartphones. No social media. She didn’t have to worry about paparazzi following her every move.
“Talk about doing cocaine and not getting caught!” Paltrow said on the program.
But Paltrow’s statement begs the question: Who can casually mention their previous or current drug use, and who can’t? It comes down to a combination of privileges, experts say, that include race and class.
Gwyneth Paltrow on cocaine use, ‘not getting caught’Â
Race and drug arrests
Many people have broken laws in their lives involving substance use, whether it’s drinking alcohol under age 21 or smoking a joint. But “privilege often protects (certain) people from scrutiny and gives them the freedom to break rules with little consequence,” says Jessica Calarco, associate professor of sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Who faces consequences for these actions is impacted by various factors.
For example: Black people are 3.73 times more likely than white people to face an arrest for marijuana, even though they use it about equally, according to the ACLU. And 2019 statistics from Pew show that while Black people were 12% of the U.S. adult population, they held more than twice that share of adult drug arrests.
“Although lawmakers have known for a long time about the racial disparity in drug possession enforcement laws, efforts to reform federal and state drug laws has been a slow process,” says Brad Fulton, associate professor of management and social policy at the Indiana University – Bloomington.
‘Laws are not equally enforced’
Many regularly talk about their drug use and may not face consequences, legal or otherwise – even past presidents like George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
Still, “anyone – famous or not – can discuss their drug use, especially past drug use, as much as they want,” says Joseph Palamar, associate professor in the department of population health at New York University. They need not worry about legal repercussions.
And those with privilege may face less backlash for their behavior.
“We tend to assume that successful people – and especially successful white people – are good people,” Calarco adds. “And that assumption leads us to give privileged people the benefit of the doubt. We’re less likely to scrutinize their behavior. And we’re more likely to assume that if they did break the rules, that they were doing so in a ‘responsible’ way.”
That’s how a celebrity might be OK mentioning drug use on a talk show, in a song or on social media – or even outright smoking marijuana on a show, like Elon Musk – where it might not be so simple for those of different races or classes.
“The law applies to everyone,” Fulton says. “It’s just that the laws are not equally enforced and equally prosecuted.”
Why would a star confess past drug use on national TV?
A statement on a talk show, of course, isn’t exactly grounds for arrest (statute of limitations expiration notwithstanding).
“Just a confession on media is very little to go by without any other corroborating evidence,” says Hadar Aviram, a professor of law at UC College of the Law, San Francisco. “Anybody can make up things to attract attention on social media.”
And there may well be motivation behind celebrity statements or acts. “Oftentimes, the disclosures are calculated to achieve sympathy, popularity, whatever it is, these people wouldn’t be making these confessions unless they thought they stood to gain from them,” Aviram adds.
Learn more about privilege
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