What motivated people to use recreational drugs in the 1960 - Essay Example

What Motivated People to Use Recreational Drugs in the 1960s? Introduction The recreational use of several drugs became widespread in Great Britain, Canada, and the United States during the 1960s. The exposure to cannabis of numerous American combatants during the Vietnam War was one of the major causes of the spread of recreational drugs in the 1960s. The 1960s is known by many as the period when the youth rebelled against the government and strived to attain harmony, love, and peace (Iversen 210). The 1960s was also a period when numerous young people experimented with different kinds of drugs. This essay tries to answer this research question: what motivated people to use recreational drugs in the 1960s? Recreational drug is defined as any substance “taken on an occasional basis for enjoyment, especially when socializing” (Earleywine 54). Recreational drugs include a broad array of hallucinogenic and narcotic substances. The term also includes heroin, cocaine, phencyclidine (PCP), tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), amphetamines, barbiturates, alcohol, and caffeine. The use of recreational drugs by the youth was strongly associated with the rebellion and dissent experienced by the people of the 1960s (Iversen 210): The most profound example of the ability of marijuana to raise mass social consciousness occurred during the Vietnam War era, on both the home front and the battle front. The spread of marijuana use to almost an entire generation of middle-class youth who came of age in the 1960’s is inextricable from the dramatic changes in social, political, spiritual and cultural values that mark that era. Cannabis did not kidnap them or their collective consciousness: the generation was ready for marijuana. Without a doubt, cannabis has become the most popular illegal drug in Western countries. It is one of the most popular recreational drugs, including tobacco and alcohol. By the 1960s recreational drug use had drastically increased among young people. Amphetamines were widely used illegally. Addiction to recreational drugs occurred simultaneously with the increasing use of cannabis (Wisotsky 92-93). Furthermore, the Home Office was observing an evident rise in heroin use. A national association of police drug teams had been formed by the end of the 1960s (Barton 132). Drug rehabilitation centers were established in the 1960s to provide assistance to drug addicts and to control the supply of recreational drugs. The Use of Recreational Drugs in the 1960s Two hallucinogenic drugs were at the core of the 1960s’ counterculture movement: LSD and cannabis. Cannabis is a plant grown in the American colonies for its fiber. Several Indian communities used the plant’s dried leaves with tobacco as a pain reliever (Conlin 940). Cannabis became a recreational drug due to two occurrences. First, a momentary fad for anything Turkish resulted in the establishment of hashish pubs, where people experienced the joy of ecstasy. Almost simultaneously, New Mexico and Texas inhabitants saw Mexicans using cannabis for its mind-altering effects. The use of cannabis as a recreational drug reached New Orleans, where clients of the city’s posh bordellos learned it from African-American singers who were at the time engaged in creating jazz. White singers, fascinated to jazz, began to use the terms ‘pot’ and ‘weed’ during the 1920s. Among the white people, using marijuana stayed practically a tradition for musicians until beatniks—the Beat generation of the 1960s—learned about it from the jazz clubs they visited (Conlin 940). The 1960s’ hippies learned marijuana use from the beatniks and began spreading the word about the hallucinogenic benefits of the drug. LSD has a shorter history. It was produced by Albert Hoffman in 1938, who was trying to create a new drug for headache. Hoffman described his experience with using LSD as “a kind of drunkenness which was not unpleasant and which was characterized by extreme activity of imagination… an uninterrupted stream of fantastic images of extraordinary plasticity and vividness and accompanied by an intense, kaleidoscope-like play of colors” (Conlin 940). Timothy Leary, a young professor at Harvard, started testing the drug. He eventually left his interest in science for the ecstasy of his spiritual enlightenment during LSD sprees. When he started to advocate its benefits, Harvard dismissed him. He then established the League for Spiritual Discovery (Conlin 940). He travelled around the United States to preach the hallucinogenic benefits of LSD as a recreational drug. The hippies began using LSD in the 1960s. Their reason, however badly they expressed it, was to “tune in, turn on, and drop out,” (Belenko 271) apparently from America’s worldly mainstream culture, but also from the inner sorrow that reality brings. Marijuana and LSD were able to give them temporary escape from the harsh reality, but what they did not realize was the permanent effect of using these recreational drugs. The beatniks experienced marijuana as soothing, pleasurable, and recreational. The hippies viewed LSD and marijuana as a ritual. Several members of the New Leftist movement who attempted to broaden the divide between the ‘nonpolitical’ counterculture movement and the ‘political’ groups claimed that the practice of drug use was revolutionary: “Drug consciousness is the key to it” (Conlin 940). However, the revolution of the New Left did not take place. The subjective revolutions of the 1960s were numerous. Nevertheless, LSD never made the conversion into the worldly, self-indulgent 1970s (Iversen 188). The use of marijuana as a recreational drug spread quickly all over the United States. Although the 1960s was a critical period in American history for numerous reasons, the most prominent occurrence during this period was the growth of the counterculture movement in the United States. The growth of a dynamic American counterculture represented a shift from the traditional, mainly religious beliefs and traditions of earlier generations. Motivated by economic and social inequalities, international and national political disorder, global affairs, and a radically changing American society, a large number of young people in the 1960s aspired for a social change. Members of this movement visualized a transformed world founded on harmony, love, and peace (Cavendish 456). Furthermore, the 1960s was a period of rebellion, militancy, and advocacy. Later in the 1960s, resistance to the participation of the United States in the Vietnam War further reinforced the growing counterculture movement. Alongside the development of cultural and social awareness in American youth was a change in the pattern of drug use. Believed to be hazardous and illegal by earlier generations of Americans, the 1960s witnessed the emergence of new beliefs about drugs. Widespread attitudes about drugs not merely progressed toward the use of recreational drugs, but people, especially the youth, also began to believe that mind-altering or hallucinatory drugs have the power to open the path toward spiritual wisdom and peace. Although illegal in the United States, marijuana became the most widely used recreational drugs in 1937. Marijuana— extracted from the hemp plant—is most frequently consumed through pipes or cigarettes. THC, the main substance in hashish and marijuana, shows signs of both hallucinogens and stimulants because it alters spatial and temporal view while at the same time it arouses the brain (Earleywine 205). Hence, users of marijuana often experience a feeling of intense relaxation accompanied with sharpened alertness, which are ideal states for the transcendental experiment, supported by the 1960s’ youth. This, alongside its believed non-addictive properties, general relaxing effects, and affordability and accessibility, made marijuana a suitable recreational drug for the counterculture movement (Iversen 23). Moreover, marijuana represented the rebellion and enigma of the counterculture movement. Although marijuana became the most popular recreational drug during the 1960s, other drugs also became popular among the members of the counterculture movement. Most hippies, who embraced the saying ‘if it feels good, do it’, used heroin, cocaine, alcohol, and various other recreational drugs in their pursuit for intense relaxation and spiritual enlightenment (Belenko 271). Possibly more vital to the forming of counterculture lifestyle than any other drug was LSD, or lysergic acid diethylamide. LSD is a powerful hallucinogen that is consumed in capsule or liquid form, or through soaked strips of paper put on the tongue. Hippies who discovered the mind-altering effects of LSD immediately informed other members of the counterculture movement about this new amazing drug. LSD immediately became a recreational drug, with hippies intensely promoting the potential of the drug to induce spiritually, mystically illuminating experiences (Cavendish 457). Even famous personalities, like Professor Timothy Leary of Harvard University, devoted a significant amount of their time promoting the benefits of LSD. The peak of LSD as a recreational drug took place with the notorious San Francisco—Acid Tests. These huge LSD social gatherings occasionally lasted for several days. These parties were filled with hippies who were under acid-stimulated hallucination. In November 1965, the first Acid Test occurred with only a few partakers, including counterculture symbol Neal Cassady and writer Allen Ginsberg. These LSD parties immediately became popular with counterculture groups and eventually became thoroughly planned gatherings, complete with participants garbed in eccentric clothing, light displays, and live entertainment. Furthermore, because LSD remained legal until 1965, the Acid Tests’ mood was usually relaxed, cheery, and lighthearted (Cavendish 457-458). In spite of the possible harmful effects of using LSD, such as wild and erratic recurrences of the hallucinogenic condition that happens long after using LSD, hysteria, and frightening visions, participants embraced an ‘anything goes’ attitude, continually trying to stimulate their minds. The Acid Tests persisted until 1966, and LSD and other recreational drugs quickly spread all over the hippie community across the United States. The government eventually prohibited the use of LSD in 1966, hence finally putting a stop to major hallucinogenic gatherings (Cavendish 458). In spite of this legal prohibition, LSD remained widespread among counterculture groups. As the 1960s progressed into the 1970s, the counterculture movement confronted a slow but continuous demise. Although those who were committed to the movement usually stayed steadfast to their ideologies, numerous hippies in time decided to reintegrate into society. There were numerous explanations for this development: exhaustion, world-weariness, maturation, financial difficulties, and numerous others. Nevertheless, this did not put an end to the counterculture spirit and its mindset toward the use of recreational drugs (Belenko 209-211). Even though no longer discernible or prominent just like in the earlier period, the consequences of the countercultural movement may still be identified in a variety of ways. Age-based information on patterns of lifetime drug use in 2002 revealed a major increase among those aged 55 to 65 in an otherwise thinning population in each age group presently under drug use (Cavendish 459). This increase characterizes the age group who were the young people in the 1960s, and characterizes a generation who have kept on using drugs, even though the kinds of drugs consumed may have differed from their earlier days. Among the recreational drugs of the 1960s, LSD use, which increased from 1966 to 1970, has also witnessed renewal of use (Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation 105). The renewal of LSD use climaxed in 2000 (Cavendish 459), motivated by the interest of the new generation in mind-altering or hallucinogenic drugs. Conclusions Recreational drug use became widely popular in the 1960s among the young people of the United States. The social disgrace related to drug use in the past diminishes as the mainstream culture gradually accepts it. Drug use in the 1960s symbolized dissent and rebellion. There are several reasons why a large number of people in the 1960s used recreational drugs, especially in the United States. First of all, these people wanted to escape reality and experience a more relaxing and peaceful condition. They found out that they can do this by using recreational drugs, like marijuana, cannabis, and LSD, which they believed do not contain addictive properties. Because of the hallucinogenic and mind-altering capabilities of these recreational drugs, it eventually became a symbol of the counterculture movement. Their experience with recreational drugs matched with their sole objective, that is, to achieve harmony, love, peace, and spiritual enlightenment. Another reason for the growth of recreational drug use was the expansion of Acid Tests, or huge LSD parties. These social gatherings served as a site where hippies can experience the mind-altering benefits of recreational drugs collectively. Through these LSD parties, the counterculture movement found acceptance and a home. Works Cited Barton, Adrian. Illicit Drugs: Use and Control. New York: Routledge, 2003. Print. Belenko, Steven. Drugs and Drug Policy in America: A Documentary History. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000. Print. Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation. Journal of the Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation, Volume 32. Bloomington, Indiana: Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation, 1965. Print. Cavendish, Marshall. Drugs and Society, Volume 2. New York: Marshall Cavendish Reference, 2006. Print. Conlin, Joseph. The American Past: A Survey of American History: Since 1865, Volume 2. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print. Earleywine, Mitch. Mind-Altering Drugs: The Science of Subjective Experience. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print. Iversen, Leslie. The Science of Marijuana. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. Print. Wisotsky, Steven. Breaking the Impasse in the War on Drugs. New York: Greenwood Press, 1986. Print. Read More