You could drive around in major cities with a bus full of acid and pot and cocaine in the 60s. Everybody would mind their own buisness, just a bunch of cooky hippies enjoying themselves.

Now most kids I know actually get scared just smoking pot in their own backyard. They start getting paranoid it smells bad and the neighbours will call the cops.

In terms of drugs and such there was much more freedom. But overall I'd say the 60s were incredibly tumultuous and if anything, I'd probably have ended up in 'nam.

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Graham: Fame is the first disgrace.
News stand boy: Why?
Graham: Because God knows who you are.

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The only thing I enjoy about the 60s was that, in certain ways, there was alot more freedom.  

You could drive around in major cities with a bus full of acid and pot and cocaine in the 60s. Everybody would mind their own buisness, just a bunch of cooky hippies enjoying themselves.

Now most kids I know actually get scared just smoking pot in their own backyard. They start getting paranoid it smells bad and the neighbours will call the cops.

In terms of drugs and such there was much more freedom. But overall I'd say the 60s were incredibly tumultuous and if anything, I'd probably have ended up in 'nam.

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not really true...

the only thing to the drug user's advantage was that law enforcement was naive in how to combat major illicit drug trade in the united states. the only other effort was prohibition which only lasted a few years and failed miserably. there were no drug task force units, K-9 patrols, or even a DEA until 1973.

but on the downside drug abuse was a 'new' crime and epidemic and standards had not yet been set on how to properly sentence those who broke the law of selling or consuming illegal drugs. therefore, it's very probable that if you were to be driving somewhere through the bible belt during the 1960s wearing flamboyant clothing and carrying illegal drugs you would get thrown into the county jail for who knows how long. i know of some cases where country police would hold people in prison for a year or more for simply possessing a joint or two.

you can argue that places like california were really 'free' when it came to allowing drug use. but the same climate exists there today, particularly in san francisco.

and where i live no one is paranoid about smoking weed in their back yard. maybe kids are. but kids shouldn't be smoking weed anyway.

out here it's kind of a country community... sort of of a redneck town. it's full of a lot of alcoholics but likewise full of a lot of pot smokers and drug users. i think you'll find that it's standard in a lot of communities for drug use to be tolerated to some extent, because so many people have family members who are on something. around here only rookie cops tend to go out of their way to bust people for simple possession. the police mainly focus on pursuing meth operations and LARGE pot grow-ops. no one's really going to care if someone has the occasional joint or pain pill or grows enough pot for themselves and a few friends.

but i don't really see anything wrong with not letting drug dealers be 'free'. maybe you guys are looking up to your dope pusher a little too much... those people are making fast money doing something illegal. it doesn't have to do with the fact that they might be producing a product that isn't 'that bad' it has more to do with the fact they're cheating. so what if we prosecute people for selling drugs? if you're stupid enough and greedy enough to sell them in a way that gets you busted you deserve it anyway.

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opiated

I suppose I made this topic a bit rash. The time period has always interested me, I just didn't take into account history. Like you said whats going on today began then.

Thanks again for your great replies.

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Every aircraft,
every camera,
is a wish that
wasn't granted.

the freedom to do what you want can not be translated into being allowed to do nothing but drive around and get high. i believe it is true that we have separated drug use from any sort of political movement because it seems like a negative issue in general. i also think talking about drug use too much can cover up our real personalities and such. if you want to be a free and inspired individual concentrate more on showing people what you can really create with your mind.

you don't have to go to college. i understand why that's frustrating. i'm a half-way college student. i go in the winter time because i'm trying to get a business / accounting degree in time. but i concentrate mostly on a seasonal business during the summer time where i make pretty decent money and work for myself.

but anyway it rubbed people the wrong way when the youth of the 60s started openly using pot and tripping on acid and eventually doing harder substances while openly defending and even encouraging their use. this lead to a fast prohibition of every substance even the less harmful psychoactives such as marijuana and psychedelic substances.i think now most politicians or political groups are shy of associating themselves with drugs even if they'd like to see drug laws reformed because being outspoken about it did nothing but make matters worse in the past.

i think it's very true that today drugs are associated with something you do 'to get fucked up' to have a good time or to kill pain and it's not really associated with anything, except maybe a certain genre of rap.. (although a lot of rap is about drugs being a negative or neutral consequence of the enviornment) in a way drug use may seem more taboo than ever since no one is standing up for people's freedom to use the types of drugs they want. but in a way i think it's more acceptable than ever because there are way more types of drug users in this nation than there ever were in the 60s. in the 60s most drug users we're hippy types. today there are all different types of drug users around, and really more types of drugs available than ever before (which you could also argue is a problem). but the result is that there's a greater diversity of users. there are users of all ages and walks of life. so in a way i believe there is a recipe for greater public drug-use toleration than there ever has been before. usually when every type not just one type of people are doing something it becomes more socially acceptable.

Post edited at 1:25 pm on April 15, 2008 by UXnIHAOnUXbmUXn

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opiated

=(

but seriously, acustico, there have always been and there always will be the apathetic and the motivated. despite what you may think, there are MILLIONS of people today that attend protests regarding relevant sociopolitical issues. there are also lazy asses that sit around all day and try to survive doing their jobs of manual labor. but the thing is that there were those same sort of people back in the 50s and 60s, too, that drank their whiskey and watched Nixon and supported him while their kids were rebellious and went out all of the time.

i'm going to try and not judge you but i'm guessing that you've got a lot of time on your hands and little responsibility right now? it's okay, i'm the same way. you'll learn in time that there is a lot more to worry about in life than protesting and being "free." when you're adult, for instance, you have to WORK and pay for yourself and sometimes you just want to enjoy the little free time you get.

i also don't think you should criticize pharms and other drugs as "synthetic happiness" because LSD is just as synthetic as all the drugs to which you were referring.

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UXnIHAOnUXbmUXn or whatever your actual name is.. you killed it for me.

=(

but seriously, acustico, there have always been and there always will be the apathetic and the motivated. despite what you may think, there are MILLIONS of people today that attend protests regarding relevant sociopolitical issues. there are also lazy asses that sit around all day and try to survive doing their jobs of manual labor. but the thing is that there were those same sort of people back in the 50s and 60s, too, that drank their whiskey and watched Nixon and supported him while their kids were rebellious and went out all of the time.

i'm going to try and not judge you but i'm guessing that you've got a lot of time on your hands and little responsibility right now? it's okay, i'm the same way. you'll learn in time that there is a lot more to worry about in life than protesting and being "free." when you're adult, for instance, you have to WORK and pay for yourself and sometimes you just want to enjoy the little free time you get.

i also don't think you should criticize pharms and other drugs as "synthetic happiness" because LSD is just as synthetic as all the drugs to which you were referring.

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when my dad is on my ass for smoking bud, i simply say "if only i were born a few decades earlier" since he did it everyday for 25 years.

and my mom who drinks alot and has a pretty low opinion on all other drugs and ppl who use them gives me a hypocritical lectures, saying that its ok for her to drink as much as she wants because she's "of legal age", which she believes makes drinking 24/7 a personal choice and a right

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My parents are people, but my mom and dad are Ritalin and Prozac

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i know what you mean. I get alot of flack from ppl for smoking bud even though my main problem is speed. bud helps kill those meth cravings that make me wanna die and im often looked down on and criticized by my whole family, even though i only do it 2-3 times a month. Not to mention that my family is composed entirely of people who either used to do drugs or still do use drugs.

when my dad is on my ass for smoking bud, i simply say "if only i were born a few decades earlier" since he did it everyday for 25 years.

and my mom who drinks alot and has a pretty low opinion on all other drugs and ppl who use them gives me a hypocritical lectures, saying that its ok for her to drink as much as she wants because she's "of legal age", which she believes makes drinking 24/7 a personal choice and a right

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At a really good event when the music is great, everyone's on E and dancing it feels like there's love in the air.

Yeap.

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Oh how time flies through crystal clear eyes, and cold is cold when
you're ending with diamond eyes. Oh come, child in a cross bones style.
Oh come, child come and rescue me. Cause you have seen some
unbelievable things with diamond eyes.