Do you think drug abuse has escalated since the 70's (smoke, addict)

[Scottay]

I was wanting to get the general opinion of everyone regarding drug abuse in the last four decades. I've heard that the 70's were pretty crazy but do you think there is more or less drug abuse now than there was in the 70's, 80's and 90's? I was debating this a friend on New Years Eve.

[imcurious]

I don't really know, but I would guess there is more now . . . in the Sixties and Seventies, lots of people smoked pot now and then - but the pot was much milder (less THC concentration).

The other drugs (mainly halluncinogenics) were probably more "experimented with" than used on a consistent basis. I think it changed in the Eighties when more people started using Cocaine (there was kind of a Cocaine promotion in the media for awhile, claiming it was harmless).

Now, my sense of it is there are more addicts - more people popping and snorting prescription drugs (and whatever else they do with them), more people taking heroin and meth . . .

I think life is more dismal now, hence the increased drug usage (if it has increased).

Why do you ask?

[imcurious]

What kind of drugs were you on on New Year's Eve that prompted this conversation?

[Scottay]

Originally Posted by imcurious

Why do you ask?

Just curious. Was thinking about the conversation while driving home from snowboarding today.

[beachmel]

Sure it's increased...hopelessness will do that to a society. Sadly, the pharmaceutical companies are the greatest profiteers of all, in the addiction game. Okay...well, AND the government who reaps $$$ in tax revenue, on those drugs.

[ScooterMcTavish]

The social stigma surrounding certain drugs has also lessened since the 1970's. Growing up in the 80's, cannabis was still considered pretty bad - now there is very little social stigma around it.

I think a lot of this is those who smoked it didn't turn into the LSD/Heroin drug fiends that the lectures in school told them they'd become either. The whole "gateway drug" approach was and is still a myth. And now these people are leaders in all segments of society.

On an unrelated note, crack and meth are the scourges of drug society, and their affordability and availability especially in low income neighborhoods means that drug abuse has increased sine the 70's. The "death of the American Dream" has certainly contributed to this. When you have no hope, all you can do is numb your pain until you die.

[Northwindsforever]

Originally Posted by Scottay

I was wanting to get the general opinion of everyone regarding drug abuse in the last four decades. I've heard that the 70's were pretty crazy but do you think there is more or less drug abuse now than there was in the 70's, 80's and 90's? I was debating this a friend on New Years Eve.

Plenty of drugs and other social issues around my neck of woods. But there is no universal, collective drugs scene anymore like back in the good ol days in the late 60's and early to 70's. So i would say less nowadays.

Important side note: I was not around in the 70's but from ppl who was this is what they tell me.

[Northwindsforever]

Now, the crack era of the late 80's to ealy 90's is a different chapter. A sad chapter in the history of mankind.

[PatrickMd]

Maybe the drug problems you witness are because you live in an urban dump?

[Northwindsforever]

Originally Posted by PatrickMd

Maybe the drug problems you witness are because you live in an urban dump?

Are you talking to me Md? If so, whats going on in an urban dump is no different than the rural trailer trash in West Virginia. No secret.