Recording Industry Offers Help to Artists with Drug Problems: Music Business Establishes Substance-Abuse Programs

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SANTA MONICA, Calif. - Music-industry insiders have announced plans to deal with the drug abuse long associated with the recording industry, which has been beset of late by drug-related deaths, arrests and concert cancellations.

"Our industry has been in denial for a while, said Michael Greene, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which hosted a press conference here yesterday after a closed-door meeting of industry professionals.

"We have a poor sense of our history," Mr. Greene said. "People are fed up with not having [pioneering jazz saxophonist] Charlie Parker and [guitar virtuoso] Jimi Hendrix around. After two or three deaths …