By the time the 60’s were transitioning to the 70’s, drugs were beginning to look “glamorous,” according to gallup.com. In fact, Woodstock, a concert associated with copious drug use, was a couple months later. This article from 1969 shows the views of drugs by Montgomery College students.
To give some context, by 1970 there were about 8,000 students at MC, according to montgomerycollege.edu. The student who wrote this article didn’t do any particular research; instead, they asked students what they thought the numbers were. While this is an interesting look into what people thought of drugs at the time, it’s not an accurate depiction of actual usage.
Drug Abuse Not Bad Here
by Jon Stiller in March 21, 1969
[Transcribed by Saagar Ahluwalia]
As much recent attention has been brought to the public eye to drug abuse, the Spur now puts its arm forward on this topic. Since so much confusion has arisen over the distinction of the types of abuse, for identification purposes the drugs to be discussed range from grass (marijuana) to horse (heroin).
The drug situation on the Rockville campus is particularly hard to access: primarily because drug use is illegal and many students are afraid of prison terms that range from five years on; and secondly, because this is a commuter college,it’s not close knit, and therefore not easily scrutinized in terms of student’s private activities.
Ten known drug users were interviewed by this reporter. These are the answers of them when asked to make estimations concerning drug use and to make comments on the drug situation on campus.
1) Marijuana: There are somewhere between 15 and 300 people on campus who smoke it. (an estimate went as high as 50% of the campus)
2) There are somewhere between 15 and 35 persons on campus who are into the speed thing. (pills, amphetamines, biphetamines, barbiturates)
3) There are somewhere between 2 and 10 persons on campus into the avid bag. (LSD)
4) There are known persons on campus who shoot heroin.
5) There are somewhere between 2 and 12 campus pushers (drug sellers) and numerous others who will give their friends a joint for nothing.
6) There are between 0 and 5 “narcs” on campus (persons working for the police in an effort to cut off drug sources)
The key to what some people call the drug “problem” seems to be pleasure. Of the persons interviewed,all have continued in drug usage because “it’s groovey.” And why did they begin? Did they all begin because of the illegality of drug usage and/or because of curiosity? Here the correlation between the first time drug user and the first time cigarette smoker is very close, but the similarity ends after the first trial because of the repression of drug usage and the open acceptance of cigarette smoking.
The sale of drugs around Montgomery County and thus on the Rockville campus is reliant on several factors: the amount of police pressure, the quantity, the pusher has and the trust between the pusher and the client. On the average however, the prices in Montgomery County are:
Grass: Five dollars for an ounce and a half.
Speed: A dollar fifty .. two dollars a cap (pill)
LSD: (The Goodstuff) .. Ten to Fifteen dollars a cap.
Heroin: I really don’t know and I hope that none of you readers care.
It has been estimated that over a million people in this country today, are tied up with the drug thing one way or another.