In the hard-living world of rock music, Scott Weiland's behavior was hardly unusual. The scrawny lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots was starting to miss rehearsals, sometimes disappearing for days at a time; word was that he was strung out on heroin. He seemed well along that glamorously dissolute road to either superstardom or death (take your pick) until he got some rare intervention. In April the band abruptly canceled a tour it was about to begin and put Weiland into a rehab program. Says the group's manager, Steve Stewart: "I was really proud of the band members for coming forward with the honest truth."

The rest of the U.S. music industry too may finally be facing up to the honest truth that heroin abuse has become a serious problem. This Thursday, at a conference sponsored by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS), some 300 industry executives, managers and musicians will gather to discuss what can be done about it. A similar meeting last December featured testimony from former addicts such as Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, along with some impassioned calls for action. "How is it that the record companies and managers can turn a blind eye and allow their children to kill themselves?" said Dallas Taylor, the former Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young drummer who also abused drugs. "Is it greed or denial?"

The sense of crisis has been growing since Kurt Cobain's suicide in April 1994, blamed at least partly on his heroin abuse. A rash of other drug-related deaths has followed: Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead succumbed to a heart attack while undergoing drug rehabilitation; Hole bassist Kristin Pfaff overdosed on heroin; and Shannon Hoon, lead singer for Blind Melon, was found dead of a cocaine overdose shortly after he completed a rehab program to kick his heroin habit.

Expressions of concern are easy to come by, but the chances for meaningful industry action are less clear. Record executives refuse to be drug police, especially in a milieu in which drug use has long been tacitly accepted--and even condoned--as part of the creative process. "I think people misunderstand the relationship of the recording artists to the label," says a record executive. "We're not a watchdog. But if we see an artist who can be harmed, then we try to get to people around him to help him." One label, Geffen Records (whose artists include Courtney Love), has retained a drug counselor for its musicians who seek help. But the industry must recognize too that pressure from the label to keep touring and recording can exacerbate a drug problem, as friends of Hoon's complained after his death.

Little wonder then that the latest call to action has split the industry. Some insiders have accused NARAS president Michael Greene, organizer of this week's meeting, of grandstanding. Greene, for his part, will not comment publicly on the agenda. An inside source, however, suggests that he will push for an industry-wide referral program to help those with drug problems. It's a minimal step, but at least a start toward trying to keep rock stars healthy, productive--and alive.

--By Richard Zoglin