Pubdate: Thu, 22 May 2003 Source: Oklahoma Daily, The (OK Edu) Copyright: 2003 Oklahoma Daily Contact: http://www.oudaily.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1371 Author: Farhan Shakeel MARIJUANA: FROM PSYCHEDELIC TO GRUNGE The Culture Of Weed Has Gradually Evolved Through The Decades. "Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me/In the jingle-jangle morning I'll come followin' you/Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin' ship/My senses have been stripped/My hands can't feel to grip," sang Bob Dylan on his 1964 hit single, "Mr. Tambourine Man." The '60s were the age of youth, as 70 million children from the post-war baby boom became teenagers and young adults. The movement radically departed from the conservative '50s to revolutionary ways of thinking and transformation in the cultural fabric of American life. The changes in this decade affected education, values, laws and entertainment that continue to evolve today. During the '60s, college campuses became centers of debate and scenes of protests. Baby boomers, reaching draft age but not yet voting age, caused a struggle played out on many campuses as the country became involved in the Vietnam War. "In the '60s, my generation was more involved in politics and protests about things going on during that time like the war in Vietnam and the Civil Rights movement," said Harold Grasmick, professor of sociology. Rock music became the most important medium for defining and coalescing the new hippie aesthetic. The style that emerged with the brilliant, swirling colors and hallucinogenic imagery was termed "psychedelic." Bob Dylan showed how meaningful songs with surrealist imagery could be wedded to popular music. Though he was one of the few artists who did not jump on the psychedelic bandwagon, his revolutionary efforts inspired countless bands who did. The first psychedelic bands came from San Francisco: The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and others. Soon after, the aesthetic spread to musical groups in New York and England, where the Beatles and the Rolling Stones began producing albums with overtly psychedelic cover art. One of the major social changes brought about by this decade was the widespread use of illicit drugs, primarily the hallucinogens, marijuana and LSD. "When I came to OU in 1973, pot was widely available and astoundingly inexpensive, and you would see colleges students smoking it around Lloyd Noble," said David Gross, associate professor in English. "Pot mainly came from Mexico when I was teaching here, and a pound sold for $100." By the mid-'60s, marijuana use was common across the country, especially among the young. Books were written to explain or vilify this phenomenon, and many others to justify the use of these drugs. Proponents looked to religious ceremonies of Native Americans, referencing marijuana use for spiritual and medicinal purposes in ancient texts. "I consider this period to be an enduring sign of freedom, and marijuana use is a small part of larger issues during that time," said Gross. "The '60s produced great literature, intellectual and scientific achievements and music." Who were the hippies? Young men with long hair and beards, young women dressing like peasants and wearing psychedelic colors. All of them seemed dirty, drugged and disrespectful of their elders and society at large. Generally, they dropped out of college, started up rock bands, lived in communes and traveled to the far reaches of the planet. "I'm an aging hippie and consider the word to be positive in representing the last 50 years of American culture," Gross said. "There are several stereotypes in movies that are simply untrue." Woodstock, billed as "Three Days of Peace and Music," drew 450,000 people to celebrate communal spirit and listen to popular rock acts of the day. The festival commenced in 1969 with attendees causing traffic jams, logistical nightmares, shortages of food and medical supplies and potential problems of crowd control. The music was almost nonstop, the rains came, drug use was widespread, yet somehow it all worked. Woodstock came to symbolize all that was right and good about the hippie movement, but also that the movement was to be short-lived. Three decades later, looking back on the "psychedelic '60s," it's Woodstock that first comes to mind. By the 1960s, the great majority of Americans were sending a very different and powerful cultural message: drugs and altered states of mind were part of being hip, social rebels. In 1972, a bipartisan commission appointed by President Nixon called for the decriminalization of marijuana--a recommendation that Nixon rejected. Nevertheless, eleven states decriminalized marijuana in the 1970s. When many of the 76 million baby boomers embraced not just drugs, but also dealing and trafficking, the drug culture exploded. In contrast, the '90s youth began with grunge on one hand and preppie on the other. Most of today's college students were born to parents who grew up in the '60s. Today, the hip-hop style is popular, boys' jeans have grown bigger and bigger, worn low on the hips. Girls wear lowriders, bellbottoms and poor-boy tops reminiscent of the '70s. The potency of marijuana has doubled since the 1970s because of efficient methods of cultivation, harvesting and processing, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The DEA's report indicated that marijuana users in college were often white and single, and preferred spending more time at parties or socializing with friends and less time studying. Also, marijuana smokers engaged in other high-risk behaviors such as binge drinking and cigarette-smoking. The majority did not believe religion and community service were important. "The present climate of marijuana use among college students is ridiculous," said Gross. "People shouldn't do it because of the penalty involved and the damage it can do to your records." Due to the diversity of the '90s, individuality among the youth became a very confusing affair. Jocks started listening to metal, cheerleaders got into drugs, and nerds pretended they were hip by listening to a lot of indie rock. Aside from depleting the brain's supply of seratonin and severely damaging vital organs, marijuana inspired more bad music and all-night love fests than the Grateful Dead and Phish combined. One thing is clear: the widespread use of marijuana on campuses is alive and well in spite of its unpleasant side effects and health risks, not to mention the legal ramifications that accompany getting busted with a little herbal refreshment.