i've heard roger waters speak of drugs in various terms, but there is actually a broad theme running through pink floyd, from about 1970-1984, of...in hindsight, it almost seems like the band took 15 years to shake off the trauma of watching their best friend, and somebody who was clearly exceedingly talented, turn into a complete idiot in front of them. and, their reaction to that was actually fairly complex - they tried to honour his legacy (while he was still alive. which must have been very confusing and difficult.), they tried to write songs reflecting on the potential outcomes of heavy drug use and they tried to explore themes that, in hindsight, have been interpreted as being a part of drug culture.

but, i've heard roger ask that his music be separated from drug culture - he's not comfortable with that, clearly. and, that would no doubt have to do with the complexities around what he saw happen in front of him.

i'm not sure how roger would reflect on that now, or if he'd want to. i would press him a little. syd's dead now, and so is the keyboard player (richard wright). gilmour was syd's replacement (ok, not really, but sort of). so, roger's views, as an older person, are really of some historical value. roger was there from the start to the end.

what it seems like is that they took a very long time to process it, and you or i can only really imagine the conflicts of feelings and views that must have occurred over the period.