New study finds popular music filled with drug, alcohol references

A new study has parents worried about what their children are listening to.

The study, released yesterday, said 33 percent of the 279 popular songs in 2005 (according to Billboard charts) had references to alcohol and drugs, such as marijuana.

Rap music, with 77 percent, was the genre with the most references. In second place, with 37 percent, was country music. R&B/hip-hop followed with 20 percent, while rock and pop ended the list with 14 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

The study was authored by Dr. Brian Primack, an assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

According to ABC News, Primack said, "This is significant because there are many impressions of substance abuse in popular music. Since young people are exposed to a lot of popular music, they also get exposed to lots of references to substance abuse."

So just how much are they exposed to it? Primack said that individuals between 8 and 18 are exposed to 104 minutes daily (more than 12 hours per week), which equals out to about 35 references.

Despite the high occurrences of substance abuse in music, there has been no direct link between listening to music and doing drugs, researchers said.