LAW-BREAKING CELEBRITIES LIKE ROBERT DOWNEY JR. ARE IN THE NEWS AGAIN

Interested? Stars and Bars

Michael Anthony
Age 37
Resides Bronx
Occupation Artist

How fascinated are you by celebrity screwups? I know about Robert
Downey and Darryl Strawberry, because we all live vicariously through
celebrities. On a broader level, drugs are being used to scapegoat
people and to create a class of bogeymen. Instead of being focused on
treatment, we put certain people in jail. It serves some kind of
purpose.

What was the hardest habit you ever tried to kick? Cigarettes. I
kicked them, but obviously I'm smoking again.

What's your favorite scandal of all time? Teddy Pendergrass and the
drag queen. Eddie Murphy and the drag queen who mysteriously "jumped
out the window" and died after saying she was going to write a book
about her experiences with Eddie.

David Jackson
Age over 18
Resides Pine Plains
New York Occupation Substance abuse counselor

How fascinated are you by celebrity screwups? I'm aware of
celebrities because of the news and because 20 years ago, I made some
of the best meth on the West Coast. You did that and a little grass,
and it would really take the edge off. This was before I became a
drug counselor and an ordained minister. We're currently trying to
overturn the bill passed in 1995 that stressed prison terms over
rehabilitation.

What was the hardest habit you ever tried to kick? China White
heroin. I was in the army, and the U.S. government supplied me with
all the heroin I needed.

What's your favorite scandal of all time? Nixon's famous declaration
that there were no American prisoners of war left in Cambodia and
Laos.

Amanda Yonker
Age 21
Resides Manhattan
Occupation Student

How fascinated are you by celebrity screwups? I buy People magazine
sometimes, and relish the misfortunes of others, just like everyone
else. It's sad, because we criticize the press, and yet we buy right
into what they're selling.

What was the hardest habit you ever tried to kick? Smoking. I started
when I lived with someone who smoked. I've never been able to kick it.

What's your favorite scandal of all time? The Clinton marriage. All
those pictures of Bill and Hillary at the beach. This was when the
Monica scandal was starting to brew. Then his bombing of the Sudan
and his search for "terrorists" to cover it up.

Harun Jordan
Age 20
Resides Manhattan
Occupation Dancer

How fascinated are you by celebrity screwups? I buy People and watch
Entertainment Tonight once in a while. If people pretend they don't
care, it's because it conflicts with their image of the celebrity
involved. Eddie Murphy's arrest, for instance, challenged the black
community's beliefs about heterosexuality and African American
masculinity.

What was the hardest habit you ever tried to kick? Smoking. I can't
quit because I'm too mean when I don't smoke.

What's your favorite scandal of all time? The election. Whose brother
is the governor of Florida?

Lesia Pupshaw Age 18 Resides Manhattan Occupation Interior designer

How fascinated are you by celebrity screwups? I get the news whether
I want it or not, because I constantly listen to the radio.

What was the hardest habit you ever tried to kick? Heroin. I've been
clean for nine months.

What's your favorite scandal of all time? Pee-wee Herman's arrest.

Alphonso McGriff Age 40 Resides Connecticut Occupation Hair stylist

How fascinated are you by celebrity screwups? I know about them
because I don't have a choice.

What was the hardest habit you ever tried to kick? I never smoked or
drank or got high, but I am trying to work out why I can't be with
just one woman.

What's your favorite scandal of all time? This election.

Christian Czyz
Age 44
Resides Manhattan
Occupation Medical consultant

How fascinated are you by celebrity screwups? Like everyone else, I
read the paper and watch TV. The news is based on one of five or six
things: tragedy, obesity, marital disharmony, some guy frozen in ice
in Times Square, and a couple of other conditions.

What was the hardest habit you ever tried to kick? I tried everything
once, but I never became addicted.

What's your favorite scandal of all time? It would be a tie between
what's going on right now in the presidential election, which
represents all kinds of millennium shit, and Clinton's lying to the
grand jury about Monica Lewinsky.

Tell us what you think. editor@villagevoice.com