It seems like people shunned drugs the most then, especially weed. I know there was a crack epidemic, so I'm not so much talking about that. From what I can tell, it doesn't seem like people smoked marijuana casually for fun, except for burnout dropout kids. It was looked at as more of a loser thing to do compared to the surrounding decades. The general youth population just seemed more preppy and mainstream society was more cleancut in the Eighties period (about 1982 to 1990). That might explain it, like Nancy Reagan's "Just say no" campaign.

in the media this is true. in real life, not really. pot was as popular as it ever was, but it was a much bigger deal if you got caught with it.

I don't think this was true at all, even with the preppies.

Cocaine was really popular (especially in my neck of the woods) and all that expendible 80's income.... ::)

Watch Less Than Zero.

Are you kidding me? This decade was when they were more prevalent. We just had anti-drug programs and slogans in the limelight.

I think most of us didn't know about drugs back then (if we were kiddies in a safer middle-class neighborhood) because our parents were more conservative and didn't talk about them so much.

i think i got a couple years on you, we were all hitting the bong and listening to hendrix and zeppelin and floyd and staring at our shoes and kvetching about the ridiculous war on drugs, to the extent we could be bothered to be political at all. but we were the art rock metalheads, i remember the punk rock kids were more earnestly political. it was odd, they knew all this stuff about the reagan administration and central america, they were listening to the dead kennedys and marginal man and getting mohawks and had this firm grasp of US foreign policy. we were listening to metallica and yes and could care less about any of that stuff, we just wanted to get our groove on and gossip about the latest kid who had been busted with pot and sent to some weird drug rehab boot camp. drug rehab camps were totally the stuff of nightmares to us but we weren't political at all back in those days.

there was this one guy, he was on the other side of the metalhead/punk rock divide in that he listened to lots of hardcore but he was legend all around the school because he would eat 15 hits of acid at a time and go on week-long hunter-s.-thompson-style benders. i always kinda begrudgingly admired those psychonaut type guys, but that stuff scared me personally. most i ever did was, i think, a hit and a half, and i felt like my veins had been scraped out by the CIA. the 80s were definitely my drug heyday, though. the dumbest thing i ever did was smoke PCP and go swimming. i'm lucky to be alive, in fact.

Methinks the idea is that us young'uns were shielded from all the drugs and sex and gays in the 80s because of our parents, but that doesn't mean all those things didn't exist.

Drugs were a major problem in the 80's.

A big difference between drug use in the 80's vs. before, drugs were 'winked' at more in the 60's and into the 70's, although by the 70's people knew the heavy drugs were trouble, despite that many still struggled with them.  In the late 70's not all were convinced in regards to 'mild' drugs like marijuana (some still wanted it legalized in the late 70's).  Whereas by the 80's most people finally agreed that drugs were bad.

'Recreational' drugs (cocaine mostly, also marijuana) rose in use in the 80's, and some party types argued that such drugs weren't that bad.  As we know in retrospect, this wasn't the case.

Gangs were a major problem in the 80's, and drugs were a big part of their lure.  Gangs were a growing negative influence on growing kids then.  The "Just Say No" campaign started in part due to gangs and their negative influence.

the "just say no" campaign actually started because the reagan administration wanted to find a reason to pour money into domestic law enforcement. it was a crock to begin with and has reaped the harvest of thousands and thousands of nonviolent offenders piled into our jails, at great expense, for selling other people a plant that grows out of the ground. and has, in fact, quite intriguing and mind-expanding effects.

that said, cocaine is garbage. don't ever touch that stuff. but no, in the 80s most people were decidedly not convinced that all drugs are bad. alcohol continues to be far more dangerous than marijuana, and continues to be peddled by the government because there's money to be made in it. ditto nicotine. it's the same argument we've had to have a thousand times before, the lines between legal and illegal drugs is largely arbitrary, but genuinely mind-expanding, natural drugs like marijuana, psilocybin, peyote, or even salvia, will be powerfully legislated against because you know what happens when people take marijuana, psilocybin, or peyote? you learn that the mortgage-and-SUV lifestyle being peddled by the establishment as the only valid way to live your life is in fact only one of an infinity of different ways to enjoy and contemplate the experience of living that the creator has given you.

sorry to sound like a smelly hippy, but i genuinely think that's the case and i think the government is terrified of the prospect of people in large numbers having the genuine psychotropic experience and tuning out of the low-grade mcmansion two-car-garage lifestyle. i say all this having largely lost interest in drugs in my old age, but not wanting to trade the experience of having tried them for anything.

All valient points, but does anyone see what I mean about it didn't seem as glamorized compared to the late '60s and '70s and again in the '90s and '00s? Oh I'm totally positive lots of people still used drugs, but it seemed to just dip a bit in terms of being commonplace or a cool thing to do. I had lots of babysitters then who were very against that stuff (well my mom told me later, at least). It was aways prevalent in inner cities probably, but I imagine not for your average suburban kids.

I'm primarily talking about marijuana. Cigarettes and beer on the other hand seemed to be popular for teens back then, but it seemed to be more "Hey gotta light?" rather than "Wanna smoke a bowl?" ;)

All valient points, but does anyone see what I mean about it didn't seem as glamorized compared to the late '60s and '70s and again in the '90s and '00s? Oh I'm totally positive lots of people still used drugs, but it seemed to just dip a bit in terms of being commonplace or a cool thing to do. I had lots of babysitters then who were very against that stuff (well my mom told me later, at least). It was aways prevalent in inner cities probably, but I imagine not for your average suburban kids.

I'm primarily talking about marijuana. Cigarettes and beer on the other hand seemed to be popular for teens back then, but it seemed to be more "Hey gotta light?" rather than "Wanna smoke a bowl?" ;)


Again, it all depends on the environment one was in at the time.  I lived in suburban North Phoenix/Glendale in the 80's.  Kids were smoking weed at my bus stop in junior high.  My dad was smoking pot and doing coke when he worked out of town during the week.

In this area drugs (including marijuana) were more prevalent for your average suburban kids 'cuz they were the ones that could afford to buy it! :D

The ant-drug campaign in the mid-eighties had an adverse effect on the public at large as we already know. We know cocaine was a glamour drug it gave you stamina and it kept you awake so that no other drug was that potent. Marijuana as just a crossover from the 60s and 70s after you smoke it you got hungry for snacks. I know there were heroin users but that drug didnt become chic again until the early 90s. The crack epidermic to me was the most devastating. It really destroyed families. It was incredibly cheap and the high didnt last long. Too many people died behind it.

All the campaigning the Reagan administration did for 'Just say No' may have worked in some areas of the country but in my community they just laughed at it there was too much money in drug trade to ignore. I wish they were more interested in the AIDS epidemic. :-\\

I was born and raised in North Philadelphia. Don't tell me drugs were kept away from my view.

   I got Nancy's message - "Just Say No" - but didn't know why I should say "no" while Nike was telling me to "Just Do It" (not really...)  In high school the S.A.D.D. chapters started popping-up everywhere.  I remember a stronger campaign against alcohol and cigarettes than with harder drugs or even weed.  My father was an alcoholic (eventually it killed him) so in our house alcohol/cigarettes was the main enemy.  So it's, "Don't you EVER start smoking, do you hear me?!  Hon, pass me the ashtray..."  Secondhand smoke was not an issue at the time... 

   Just look at any youth oriented TV show or movie and you're going to find some anti-drug/alcohol themes somewhere within.  That's very telling...

   But drugs/weed/alcohol with my grandparents?  Forget it.  They were firmly against while, at the same time, letting me take sips of their wine and beer at restaraunts while nobody was looking.  When my dad took me camping he'd let me drink beer (I was 12/13 y/o).  In high school, friends and I would get weed from their parents.  Their reasoning was, "Okay, for the record I'm against this but if you must, because I KNOW you're going to, AT LEAST come to us and not to some shady characters.  You'll get ripped-off, robbed, beat-up..."  They were Canadian immigrants.  I thought, "Hey, they're definately cool in Canada..!"

   So anyway, from my experience, I was getting mixed signals in the anti-drug decade.  I don't think it's a stretch to say alot of us were...

I grew up in an extremely conservative town in Utah and it was big there, too.  Alot of the problems stemmed from boredom.  Lots of anti-drug slogans but also lots of drugs. 

WHAT ABOUT THE STICKERS THAT WERE LACED WITH LSD?? HUH?? WHAT ABOUT THEM??    :-\\ 

:o    :o     :o      :o 

I wasn't allowed to buy Garbage Pail Kids or Tattoo Gum for a while because of that crap!!!  >:(

WHAT ABOUT THE STICKERS THAT WERE LACED WITH LSD?? HUH?? WHAT ABOUT THEM??    :-\\ 

:o    :o     :o      :o 

I wasn't allowed to buy Garbage Pail Kids or Tattoo Gum for a while because of that crap!!!  >:(


OMG...same here, except it was the scratch & sniff smelly stickers that my mom didn't let me buy for awhile, after hearing about this.

At least around here, yeah, smoking pot was a loser thing to do.  But TONS of kids did it.  I always hated it (yuck).

BUT the other stuff...the ludes and the coke and all that crap?  All over the place in the late 80s. 

I used to see a lot of those "Just Say No" commercials (usually during Saturday morning cartoons) back then. And back in the 5th and 6th grades a cop would come into our classroom for those D.A.R.E. classes.

The stickers? For us here in NYC during the crack era it was those fake tattoos...and also valentines day candy.

One just has to look around downtown Miami
All those big buildings were financed by the Coke dealers trying to launder they money!
80s were the coke times!
Ronnie regan started "The War on Drugs"then
& the wasted tax payers money keeps climbing millions by millions
sure you can bust the dealers , drug rings etc.......
But how do you stop the demand?????
I watched a show about NY Narcs & the cop said if you were to take every dealer off the streets today.By tomorrow someone else would replace all of them!
Running up that hill - kate bush

Another example of the nanny state that the US is turning into. And yet another example that you really don't get any choice in your candidates anymore. They're all the same...

I tried to say no, but the weed didn't listen. :o

Another example of the nanny state that the US is turning into. And yet another example that you really don't get any choice in your candidates anymore. They're all the same...


  I agree...

the "just say no" campaign actually started because the reagan administration wanted to find a reason to pour money into domestic law enforcement. it was a crock to begin with and has reaped the harvest of thousands and thousands of nonviolent offenders piled into our jails, at great expense, for selling other people a plant that grows out of the ground. and has, in fact, quite intriguing and mind-expanding effects.

that said, cocaine is garbage. don't ever touch that stuff. but no, in the 80s most people were decidedly not convinced that all drugs are bad. alcohol continues to be far more dangerous than marijuana, and continues to be peddled by the government because there's money to be made in it. ditto nicotine. it's the same argument we've had to have a thousand times before, the lines between legal and illegal drugs is largely arbitrary, but genuinely mind-expanding, natural drugs like marijuana, psilocybin, peyote, or even salvia, will be powerfully legislated against because you know what happens when people take marijuana, psilocybin, or peyote? you learn that the mortgage-and-SUV lifestyle being peddled by the establishment as the only valid way to live your life is in fact only one of an infinity of different ways to enjoy and contemplate the experience of living that the creator has given you.

sorry to sound like a smelly hippy, but i genuinely think that's the case and i think the government is terrified of the prospect of people in large numbers having the genuine psychotropic experience and tuning out of the low-grade mcmansion two-car-garage lifestyle. i say all this having largely lost interest in drugs in my old age, but not wanting to trade the experience of having tried them for anything.


wow. you writed good.

seriously though, this is a point of view i had never thought of before. and it makes a lot of sense.  bravo!  :) 

WHAT ABOUT THE STICKERS THAT WERE LACED WITH LSD?? HUH?? WHAT ABOUT THEM??   :-\\ 

:o    :o    :o      :o 

I wasn't allowed to buy Garbage Pail Kids or Tattoo Gum for a while because of that crap!!!  >:(


LMAO!

(+1 karma to Sir Billzy)

Another example of the nanny state that the US is turning into. And yet another example that you really don't get any choice in your candidates anymore. They're all the same...>Quote


Why does the Miss USA pageant have 50 choices & the Presidential Election have 2???

Something wrong there >:(

Are you kidding? There was alot of cocaine and heroine, done during this decade.

Are you kidding? There was alot of cocaine and heroine, done during this decade.


hey there Jamie...I was just commenting that you haven't been around here in awhile. Nice to see you back. :)

Same to you.

I tried to say no, but the weed didn't listen. :o



 Ha, I hear ya   :-X