FIVE FOR FIGHTING’S JOHN ONDRASIK: My Tour-Bus Pharmacy Went on a Health Kick.

I had to smile at Kyle Smith’s op-ed about the ability of aging rock stars to keep on keeping on (“Classic Rock of the 70s and Older,” op-ed, Aug. 21). Though I didn’t partake in much of the flagrant drug use of the ’70s and ’80s, it was certainly readily available. We knew the passwords to get into the post-gig speakeasies, and the band’s daily hangovers were as biting as their solos.

But times, like the body and mind, change. The tour-bus pharmacy has evolved. Pot has been replaced with probiotics, cigarettes are now Celexa, and Jose Cuervo is lost somewhere behind the Omega 3s, Vitamin Bs and beta blockers. If that looks like cocaine, feel free to sample our low-carb protein powder.

The delightful after-show pizzas have graduated to yogurt and granola. Our rider now includes multivitamins and Maalox to go with the nuts, fruit and dark chocolate (a healthy alternative!). Motrin now dulls the arthritis to keep the joints going for one more gig. On off days, I tend to see the boys more often on a run, or in the gym, than in the bar. Each bunk has a heating pad.

The times, they have a-changed.