Woodstock Music Festival Essay

The Woodstock Music Festival was a music event in Bethel, New York that changed the way people live. During August of 1969, many large crowds of American music lovers all came together to listen to the music of their favorite musicians for this huge music event. Woodstock swept the nation with not only talented musicians, but also many new thoughts and opinions on the world. This popular concert event introduced the ideas of peace, unity, kindness, and togetherness. The Woodstock Festival made a major impact on the United States. It helped people overcome prejudices, informed people about the danger of drugs, led to safer and better prepared concerts, and started a chain of music events all around the world. On August 15 through 18 of 1969

Although it caused many tragic deaths, drug use at Woodstock sparked a positive change across the country. It informed millions about how dangerous drugs are and how to prevent drug related deaths. People saw what a terrible things people were doing on drugs, and scared them away from doing them themselves. One particular man say the drug inflicted damage, and wanted help everyone with this issue. His name was Gabriel Nahas, and he wanted to make a change. In Ned Stafford’s Journal, he wrote about how Nahas attended one meeting changed the whole direction of his life. “At the meeting Nahas, a professor of anesthesia at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, heard a detailed presentation of the increasingly widespread use of marijuana in US cities.” (Stafford 33) Nahas worked very hard to inform the world on this topic to prevent injuries and save lives. Stafford noted, “He became an extremely polarizing leader of the antidrug movement. In the 1980s Nahas supported Nancy Reagan, wife of President Reagan, in her antidrug Just Say No campaign, appearing with her at a public rally.”(Stafford 33) Woodstock led Gabriel Nahas to see how drug use can be dangerous to the people using drugs, and the people around them. Creating this campaign was his way of informing the world about the consequences of drugs. Today, kids and teens are constantly told to stay away from drugs; Woodstock was one of the events that sparked the concern for drug use all across America. The Just Say No campaign and others like it led to informed people, which prevented drug related injuries and saved lives. Even though people still suffer from drug abuse today, Gabriel Nahas’s campaign led to a more informed and aware