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"The new uses to which cocaine has been applied with success in New York... include hayfever, catarrh and toothache and it is now being experimented with in cases of seasickness... All will be given to understand that cocaine will cure the worst cold in the head ever heard of."

- New York Times

Drugs in the 80's

  • Crack, a form of cocaine that is sold as “rocks” and smoked, first appeared in large U.S. cities around 1985.
  • Crack became a popular alternative to cocaine in urban and working-class areas because it was much cheaper than cocaine.
  • This led to a dramatic increase in crack use known as the “Crack Epidemic of the 1980s.”

Perception as a 'glamorous' drug

Cocaine Use Explodes

Crack dens of the 80's mirror the opium dens of the early 1900's

The 90's:

The Drug Epidemic Hits 'White America'

Heroin Hits Suburbia

The Rural Meth Craze

A Multicultural Understanding of Drug Usage

Alcohol: A Cultural Universal

Drug Usage Among Traditional Societies

Episode Viewing: A Cross-Cultural Study

Drug Usage in a Historical Context

The 20th Century

Theory #1: Increased Demand

Question to Consider:

What is the ultimate factor driving the drug trade?

"Turn on, tune in, drop out".

Did a changing culture in the United States drive demand for new illicit drugs? Is culture and exploration still what drives the demand for drugs?

Theory #2: Increased Supply

Or does the arrival of new drugs on the streets spurn interest and demand? Do drug suppliers introduce the population to drugs they never knew they wanted?

“A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them.”

- Steve Jobs

A Fundamental Question:

What are 'drugs' and why do people use them?

A medicine or other substance which has a physiological effect when ingested or otherwise introduced into the body.

An illegal and often harmful substance (such as heroin, cocaine, LSD, or marijuana) that people take for pleasure

Most drugs are consumed for the effects they have on the brain

  • Not all drugs are inherently 'bad'. The caffeine present in coffee, for example, is a drug that also affects brain function and can lead to addiction.
  • Caffeine consumed in coffee, tea and chocolate is generally considered safe, unless you have preexisting conditions.
  • Even legal drugs, however, such as alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine can have adverse effects and can be dangerous depending on how they are consumed and in what quantity.

Cocaine abusers damage their Dopamine receptors over time, and eventually find that they need the drug to achieve normal levels of pleasure and happiness (addiction).

Cocaine, for example, works by blocking Dopamine transporters (which remove excess dopamine), thus increasing the availability of Dopamine that is received by Dopamine receptors- the result is an intensely pleasurable feeling.

The other problem with illicit drugs such as Cocaine is that the adverse effects are so incredibly dangerous...

Cocaine, and other such drugs, are too dangerous to be consumed in 'moderation' by adults

The problem is that this interferes with normal brain function, fundamentally changing your brain chemistry.

The Birth of the Modern Drug Epidemic

The medicalization of drugs

  • 1803: Morphine isolated from opium

1898: Bayer markets Heroin as a cough suppressant

  • 1861-1865: Civil War
  • Morphine is commonly used and addiction to it becomes common
  • "The Army Disease"
  • 1853: The hypodermic needle is invented

Marijuana was used in the late 19th/early 20th century both for medicinal purposes and recreation

Late 1800's: Cocaine hailed as a 'miracle cure'

The War Against Marijuana

Late 1800's: Opium Den in San Francisco

Amphetamine Use Throughout the 20th Century

Drugs: Use and Misuse Throughout History

Disco Fever:

Drugs in the 1970's

Cocaine

Quaaludes

Vietnam and Heroin

The 1950's and 1960's

Hippies: Marijuana and LSD

  • Post-WWII Generation
  • Embraced new forms of thinking and openness to sexuality
  • Marijuana, amphetamine, and psychedelic drug usage

Psychedelic Experimentation

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