Editing Keith Richards (section)

===Drug use and arrests===
Music journalist [[Nick Kent]] attached to Richards [[Lord Byron]]'s epithet of "mad, bad, and dangerous to know." Jagger thought that Richards's image had "contributed to him becoming a junkie".{{sfn|Bockris|2003|p=213-214}} In 1994, Richards said his image was "like a long shadow ... Even though that was nearly twenty years ago, you cannot convince some people that I'm not a mad drug addict."<ref name="Q1994p91">{{cite news |last=Deevoy |first=Adrian |title=Ladies and Gentlemen, the Interesting Old Farts |magazine=[[Q (magazine)|Q]] |publisher=EMAP Metro |date=August 1994 |page=91}}</ref>

Richards's notoriety for illicit drug use stems in part from several drug busts during the late 1960s and 1970s and his candour about using heroin and other substances. Richards has been tried on drug-related charges five times: in 1967, twice in 1973, in 1977, and in 1978.{{sfn|Bockris|2003|p=133–135, 215–216, 280–283}}{{sfn|Flippo|1985|p=177-178}} The first trial{{snd}}the only one culminating in a prison sentence{{sfn|Flippo|1985|p=177-178}} – resulted from a [[The Rolling Stones' drug bust|February 1967 police raid]] on [[Redlands, West Wittering|Redlands]], Richards's [[Sussex]] estate, where he and some friends, including Jagger, were spending the weekend.{{sfn|Booth|2000|p=243-245}} The subsequent arrest of Richards and Jagger put them on trial before the [[Courts of the United Kingdom|British courts]], whilst also trying them in the court of public opinion. On 29 June 1967, Jagger was sentenced to three months' imprisonment for possession of four amphetamine tablets. Richards was found guilty of allowing cannabis to be smoked on his property and sentenced to one year in prison.{{sfn|Booth|2000|p=276}} Both Jagger and Richards were imprisoned at that point: Jagger was taken to [[Brixton Prison]] in south London,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.musicpilgrimages.com/interest/index.php?alias=mick_goes_to_jail.html |title=Mick goes to jail |publisher=musicpilgrimages.com |date=11 October 2009 |access-date=15 October 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714135425/http://www.musicpilgrimages.com/interest/index.php?alias=mick_goes_to_jail.html |archive-date=14 July 2011}}</ref> and Richards to [[Wormwood Scrubs Prison]] in west London.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.musicpilgrimages.com/interest/index.php?alias=keith_goes_to_jail.html |title=Keith goes to jail |publisher=musicpilgrimages.com |date=14 October 2009 |access-date=15 October 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714135439/http://www.musicpilgrimages.com/interest/index.php?alias=keith_goes_to_jail.html |archive-date=14 July 2011}}</ref> Both were released on bail the next day pending appeal.{{sfn|Booth|2000|p=277}} On 1 July, ''[[The Times]]'' ran an editorial entitled "[[Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?]]", portraying Jagger's sentence as persecution, and public sentiment against the convictions increased.{{sfn|Wyman|2002|p=286}} A month later the appeals court overturned Richards's conviction for lack of evidence, and gave Jagger a [[conditional discharge]].{{sfn|Booth|2000|p=278–279}}

On 27 February 1977, while Richards was staying in a Toronto hotel, then known as the [[Westin Harbour Castle Hotel|Harbour Castle Hilton]] on [[Queens Quay (Toronto)|Queen's Quay East]], the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] found heroin in his room and charged him with "possession of heroin for the purpose of trafficking"{{snd}}an offence that at that time could result in prison sentences of seven years to life under the [[Narcotic Control Act]].{{sfn|Flippo|1985|p=67–68}} His passport was confiscated, and Richards and his family remained in Toronto until 1 April, when Richards was allowed to enter the United States on a medical visa for treatment of heroin addiction.{{sfn|Bockris|2003|p=261–263}} The charge against him was later reduced to "simple possession of heroin".{{sfn|Flippo|1985|p=134}}

For the next two years, Richards lived under threat of criminal sanction. Throughout this period he remained active with the Rolling Stones, recording their biggest-selling studio album, ''[[Some Girls]]'', and touring North America. Richards was tried in October 1978, pleading guilty to possession of heroin.{{sfn|Wyman|2002|p=453}}{{sfn|Flippo|1985|p=134–136}} He was given a suspended sentence and put on probation for one year, with orders to continue treatment for heroin addiction and to perform a benefit concert on behalf of the [[CNIB|Canadian National Institute for the Blind]] after a blind fan testified on his behalf.{{sfn|Flippo|1985|p=178}} Although the prosecution had filed an appeal of the sentence, Richards performed two CNIB benefit concerts at [[Oshawa Civic Auditorium]] on 22 April 1979; both shows featured the Rolling Stones and the New Barbarians.<ref name="circus79">{{cite news |title=Back Pages: Will Canada Get Its Pound of Flesh from Keith Richards? |last=O'Neill Jr |first=Lou |magazine=Circus |date=29 May 1979}}</ref> In September 1979, the [[Court of Appeal for Ontario|Ontario Court of Appeal]] upheld the original sentence.<ref name="rvr518">Greenspan 1990. p. 518.</ref>

In 2016, he stated that he still occasionally drinks alcohol and consumes [[hashish]] and cannabis.<ref name="blue2016">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/inside-the-rolling-stones-new-album-blue-lonesome-w450645 |access-date=16 November 2016 |title=The Rolling Stones' New Blues: Inside Their Roots Revival, Bright Future |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=3 December 2016 |url-access=limited|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117153836/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/inside-the-rolling-stones-new-album-blue-lonesome-w450645 |archive-date=17 November 2016}}</ref> In 2022, he revealed that he quit smoking in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://people.com/music/keith-richards-reveals-he-quit-smoking-now-has-more-stamina/ |title=Keith Richards Reveals He Quit Smoking, Now Has 'More Stamina': 'Just Put the Hammer on It' |date=15 March 2022 |access-date=3 March 2024 |website=People |last=DeSantis |first=Rachel}}</ref>