Drug Abuse in American Society: Socio-Cultural Documentary - Drugs in Our Culture (1/2) (1970)

1970 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DHXRSG?ie=UTF8&tag=doc06-20&link... Watch the full film: http://thefilmarchived.blogspot.com/2010/12/drugs-in-our-culture-1970.html

Drug subcultures are examples of countercultures, primarily defined by recreational drug use.

Drug subcultures are groups of people united by a common understanding of the meaning and value (good or otherwise) of the incorporation into life of the drug in question. Such unity can take many forms, from friends who take the drug together, possibly obeying certain rules of etiquette, to full-scale political movements for the reform of drug laws. The sum of these parts can be considered an individual drug's "culture".

There are multiple drug subcultures based on the use of different drugs — the culture surrounding cannabis, for example, is very different from that of heroin, due to the different sort of experiences, sentiment amongst the crowd attracted to the drug in question, as well as the problems the users encounter.

Drugs also play an important role in various other subcultures, such as reggae and hip hop music, Rastafari, hippie movements, drug dealing, as well as rave culture. Many artists, especially in 20th century and since then, used various drugs and explored their influence on human life in general and particularly on the creative process. Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas employs drug use as a major theme and provides a critique of the drug culture of the 1970s.

Most governments have designed legislation to criminalize certain types of drug use. These drugs are often called "illegal drugs" but generally what is illegal is their unlicensed production, distribution, and possession. These drugs are also called "controlled substances". Even for simple possession, legal punishment can be quite severe (including the death penalty in some countries). Laws vary across countries, and even within them, and have fluctuated widely throughout history.

Attempts by government-sponsored drug control policy to interdict drug supply and eliminate drug abuse have been largely unsuccessful. In spite of the huge efforts by the U.S., drug supply and purity has reached an all time high, with the vast majority of resources spent on interdiction and law enforcement instead of public health. In the United States, the number of nonviolent drug offenders in prison exceeds by 100,000 the total incarcerated population in the EU, despite the fact that the EU has 100 million more citizens.

Despite drug legislation (or perhaps because of it), large, organized criminal drug cartels operate worldwide. Advocates of decriminalization argue that drug prohibition makes drug dealing a lucrative business, leading to much of the associated criminal activity.

The UK Home Office estimated that the social and economic cost of drug abuse to the UK economy in terms of crime, absenteeism and sickness is in excess of £20 billion a year.

However, it does not estimate what portion of those crimes are unintended consequences of drug prohibition (crimes to sustain expensive drug consumption, risky production and dangerous distribution), nor what is the cost of enforcement. Those aspects are necessary for a full analysis of the economics of prohibition.

The Home Office has a recent history of taking a hard line on controlled drugs, including those with no known fatalities and even medical benefits, in direct opposition to the scientific community.

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[babycakez4u2nv]

wikipedia? really -_-..you couldn't write the description yourself?

[somerville00]

@beta447 if a joint has less effect on you than a martini you might be showing signs of substance dependency. A normal person would be high as can be off one joint. The reason why one joint has little effect on you is because you built up a tolerance because you more than likely smoke it all the time. Life is meant to be enjoyed sober most people use/abuse drugs to escape problems in there life. But it is ok to drink 1-2 martini's to relax and drugs are not because they are illegal.

[LadyDaDa808]

And where did all these drugs come from? Amphetamines, barbiturates, opiates, benzodiazepines and other pharmaceuticals were WIDELY overprescribed from the 1930s-1970s. LSD, mescaline and many other psychedelics were used in the MK-ULTRA project (covert govt. experiments), from where they spread into the West Coast culture...and from there, throughout the WORLD.

[beta447]

So much BS. A Martini will impair you way more than a joint. And that bald guy was acting like the reason people do drugs is because they're advertised heavily, not because they're fun or relaxing. How naive.

[rockbay79]

Like everything in this world, it all boils down to choice. From the facts I've seen and read, weed is safe. We all agree cigarettes kill, but we allow it. Why? Prescription drugs are legal and so many poor souls are walking around right now addicted! Why? People over-eat and are so obese. They don't even care about themselves!

[Oriente7]

@rockbay79 i know but theyre so...good in my opinion. But what even worse, is the millions of vicodins and oxys and morphines that are legal...Those are even more damagin, the weed i smoke is the least of my worries.

[rockbay79]

@Oriente7 I would stop smoking the cigarettes, we all know how lethal they are for our society.

[Oriente7]

@BarkleyBell damn what would happen if u smoke both everyday?

[BarkleyBell]

The one drug not even mentioned in this documentary is nicotine. Cigarettes kill more people each year than most all other drugs combined. However, back in 1970 cigarettes were considered no problem. Cigarettes kill over 300,000 Americans annually, weed has never killed anyone.