1970s Drugs And Their Effect On Culture Essay

Drugs and their effect on the culture of the 1960s and 1970s

A drug is a medicine or other substance that has a physiological effect when ingested or otherwise introduced into the body. Many people use drugs without realizing how addictive they can become. During the 1960s and 1970s drugs had a huge impact on the people and as years went on they became more and more dangerous to the point where marijuana, and LSDs were becoming popular and the group most affected were teenagers.

You may ask, what is LSD? LSD is a type of acid or known by its scientific name Lysergic Acid Diethylamide which is a psychedelic. It was discovered by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann in 1943. Although researched, scientist could not find a medical use for it.

In 1960 professor Timothy Leary urged people to try the drug LSD. Leary thought that it could help people therapeutically and he saw many benefits in the usage of the drug. LSD was first available in tablet form but when it became illegal people began to use it in other forms such as liquid acid which was taken orally, through the eyes or mucous membrane or mixed with other drugs such as marijuana.

Marijuana, also known as weed, pot, maryjane, and

chronic among other names was also a popular drug in the 60s. Marijuana is a combination of dried, shredded leaves and flowers of Cannabis sativa, the hemp plant. Although marijuana was illegal many people were willing to try it regardless of judicial consequences. Just like LSD, marijuana can be taken many different ways such as hand rolled cigarettes also known as joints, bongs, blunts etc.. Marijuana can also be mixed in with foods most commonly in brownies, cookies or candies. Using marijuana can have many short or long term effects on the brain.
Drugs began to evolve more during the 1970s, while the hippie movement was coming to an end.

Popular drugs during the 70s other than LSD and marijuana, were cocaine and heroin. Cocaine, also known as coke, is produced from the leaves of a coca plant which is found in South America and quickly was a very popular addictive drug. It influenced the recreation of the movie Scarface from the 30s to what most known by the 70s version portrayed by the actor Al Pacino and showed throughout how it had a major effect during the time known as the disco era. Just like marijuana cocaine is an illegal drug and has many different ways of being used such as snorting, or rub it on their gums, cook it to create another form known as crack cocaine and mix it with water to inject it into their

bloodstreams.
When people hear the name of the drug heroin, most would not realize that it has been around in the states for longer than most would think. So long that it has been around since the mid to late 1800’s until present day and even in its early days here only known as opium was a fairly popular drug. Being popular, many opium dens were scattered throughout the wild west. Chinese immigrants who came here to work on the railroads during those times were mostly the reason of the rise of opium. Like many other hard illegal drugs such as opium, heroin is also very highly addictive. One try and most are hooked. Diamorphine commonly known as heroin, is an opiate which is made from the resin of poppy plants and was commonly used to relieve pain but when the 70’s came around, people used it as a social and recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Most heroin is injected into the bloodstream which can sometimes be dangerous because the person using the drugs can contract AIDS and/or other transmitted diseases besides the pain of addiction not to mention the possibility of death through overdose. The addiction liability of heroin is very high, and after taking it, it lasts for about 4 to 5 hours.
You ask how can drugs affect a culture in a good way? Well, depending who you ask, some would say that art, music, movies, plays and possibly other things were done under the influences of the above named illegal substances. That does not mean that I am for the use of illegal drugs to create beautiful things in our world, but unless told most wouldn’t know the history of famous people in different walks of life who have created such works of art such as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Miles Davis, Lenny Bruce to name a few. These were famous people who influenced a one of the more powerful cultures during the 60s and 70s through the already mentioned music, movies, and art, and just because they were famous did not mean that they were exempt from the after effects just like anyone else. Drugs do not pick and choose who to affect.
No drug, illegal or not, when abused can have lasting effects physically and psychologically and in some cases a deadly effect. Today the same drugs that are mentioned above as in the 60s and 70s are still having an effect in today’s culture.

Works cited
www.d.umn.edu
https://sobernation.com/drug-addiction-through-the-decades-focus-70s/
http://www.narconon.org/drug-information/heroin-history.html
snrh5/drug-culture-in-the-1960s/
https://prezi.com/m/zvcnz5pflloc/drugs-during-the-60s/
nytimes.com