Now at the gates of this wretched new domain I observed two prim and spritely characters dressed in a suit and tie and a long red dinner dress. None other than Ronald and Nancy Regan, smiling gleefully, “Just say no!” they chirped in unison. A chill was sent down, the cold emanated through me.
The muffled cries could already be heard beyond the crystalline gates, the jagged bars of methamphetamines could barely hold back the anguish of the countless souls ensnared in this pit. My master informed me that none were allowed to speak here, their mouths and nostrils bound,
lest they be able to feast of the drugs surrounding them. The purpose of this was to remind them of the pleasures they had once derived from the billows of smoke that filled the air and the gravelly rocks of crack sprinkled upon a beach of cocaine. They stare for eternity at the hit they will never get.
First up were the abusers of the alkaloid cocaine, buried in mounds of it, some with their heads sticking out others only their feet. All lashed furiously with bloodshot eyes and hair matted to their sweaty faces, all caught in eternal withdrawal. Among them I spotted Scarface himself, Tony Montana.
The fire he once had in life was reduced to a fuming desperation as he mashed his face into the mound repeatedly. His eyes streamed tears for the powder he craved so desperately! Also there was Freud, his genitals peppered in the stuff, over stimulating them as once he had so voraciously wrote.
Moving through that sector we came upon the freaks and burnouts of psychedelics. As they had once thought that they were all one consciousness in life, conversely here they were represented as but black motes completely separated from one another. Amusing patterns ...
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...to a floating drum the smoke would instantly choke them causing their grip to weaken and fail. “Here are the drunkards and the smokers,” Virgil proclaimed “their indulgences were legal and the most terrible of all, forever they will thrash and flail
in a pool of their failure to moderate themselves. Many of them tried AA but did not accept the higher power, so here they are sliding from their barrels back into the drink for all of eternity.” “And what of those who smoked the seven pronged leaf, the users of the lettuce of the devil himself?”
“I presume you refer to the smokers of cannabis?” Virgil responded, “Why they’re in heaven of course! What do you think the clouds are made of but hits from the water pipe of Christ himself!” And with that we moved to the next circle, I had seen my fill of the gluttons of substances, I knew never to travel that path.
Psychedelic drugs were an icon of the 1960s, its role embedded within the rising counterculture in response to the economic, social, and political turmoil throughout the United States. As a means to impose a central power and control social order, federal authorities were quick to ban the recreational and medical use of psychedelic drugs without consideration of its potential benefits. The recent state laws on the legalization of marijuana in Oregon and Colorado with others soon to follow, is a sure sign of an eventual collective shift in the perceptions of psychedelic drugs. Not only does Daniel Pinchbeck document his reflections on the personal consumption of psychedelic drugs in his unconventional novel Breaking Open the Head, he also advances several assertions on modern Western society in his exploration of polarized attitudes on this controversial topic.
The Cocaine Kids focuses on the lives of eight Latino and black young cocaine dealers in New York City from 1982 to 1986. This...
Throughout “Chasing the Scream” many intriguing stories are told from individuals involved in the drug war, those on the outside of the drug war, and stories about those who got abused by the drug war. Addiction has many social causes that address drug use and the different effects that it has on different people. In our previous history we would see a tremendous amount of individuals able to work and live satisfying lives after consuming a drug. After the Harrison Act, drugs were abolished all at once, but it lead to human desperation so instead of improving our society, we are often the reason to the problem. We constantly look at addicts as the bad guys when other individuals are often the reasons and influences to someone’s decision in
In taking sides, it is evident that W.J. Rorabaugh was on the right track when he points out that many evangelic religious leaders formed groups to reiterate to the people that liquor was the tool of the devil and that basically, society would continue to...
Clayton, R. R. (1996). Cocaine use in the United States: In a blizzard or just being snowed. Cocaine Use in America: Epidemiologic and Clinical Perspectives. National Institute on Drug Abuse Research Monograph, 61, 8-34.
The average person wants one thing more than anything else, and that thing is to belong. Usha, a young girl from Calcutta, is no different. Already trying the find her place in the world, Usha must now assimilate into cultural society within the United States. Usha’s uncle, Pranab Kaku, came from Calcutta as well having first come to America, his experiences start off worse than Usha’s, which causes him to join the family in an act of social grouping. With the Old World trying to pull them back and the New World just out of reach, both must overcome tradition and develop their own personal values.
The eighties had Ronald Reagan’s war on drugs, the crack epidemic in major cities, and the Columbian cartels’ emergence as a threat. Kingpin “freeway Ricky Ross” made his debut in the eighties and organized an empire solely on drugs. Ad campaigns featuring the first lady, Nancy Reagan, were launched in an attempt to have kids “just say no,” and “nope to dope” (Martin). The crack epidemic hit so hard, that many conspiracy theories stating that the CIA was sending crack...
Cocaine (C17H21NO4) comes from the leaf of an Erythroxylon coca bush. It is a drug that effects the central nervous system. It causes feelings of euphoria, pleasure, increased energy and alertness. People under the influence of cocaine often do not feel the need for food or sleep. They also feel energetic and may talk a lot. However, depending on factors such as environment, dosage, and the manner in which the drug is taken, cocaine can have adverse effects such as violent, erratic behavior, dizziness, paranoia, insomnia, convulsions, and heart failure to name a few. Long- term effects of cocaine include, but are not limited to strokes, heart attacks, seizures, loss of memory, and decrease in learning capability (1).
In the passage `A Nonsmoker With a Smoker' written by Phillip Lopate, the writer discusses his hatred as well as his fascination with smoking. He tells a story about his girlfriend Helen, who was a smoker, and how her smoking bothered him not only in a distasteful manner but also in a manner of not understanding. Because he didn't smoke he didn't realize what it means to those who do. He couldn't understand why, although Helen didn't like the fact that she smoked, she couldn't quit. He couldn't understand the addiction aspect of it. He goes through many of his life experiences of smoking and tries finding understanding with in them.
David Sheff starts the story of his family with Nic’s birth and goes all the way long to the present days when his son had survived several years of drug abuse, rehabilitations and relapses. Sheff confesses that his son started to use different kinds of drugs when he was very young. At the age of 11 he would try alcohol and some pot. “In early May, I pick Nic up after school one day …When he climbs into a car I smell cigarette smoke. I lecture him and he promises not to do it again. Next Friday after school…I am packing an overnight bag for him and look for a sweater in his backpack. I do not find a sweater, but instead discover a small bag of marijuana.” (Sheff, 200...
It was 1920 when smoking began to catch on in the United States. Its recreational use was restricted to jazz musicians and people in show business. “Reefer songs” became the rage of the jazz world. Marijuana clubs, called tea pads, appeared in every major city across the country. Authorities tolerated these establishments because it was not illegal or considered a social threat. In the early 1930’s marijuana became stereotyped as a violent drug, and by 1936 was illegal in all states. Marijuana research was at a stand still and the thought of it being a violent drug faded and the idea that it was a gateway drug emerged in the late 1940’s early 1950’s. In the 1960’s marijuana became very popular among the young college crowd. This was looked at as a challenge to authority and the government.
the crowds of youths all over the hillside. But the drugs weren't the reason that people
Wesson, Donald R. "Psychedelic Drugs, Hippie Counterculture, Speed And Phenobarbital Treatment Of Sedative-Hypnotic Dependence: A Journey To The Haight Ashbury In The Sixties." Journal Of Psychoactive Drugs 2 (2011): 153. Academic OneFile. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.
With both hands resting lightly on the table to each side of his white foam cup, Otis stared into its deep abyss of emptiness with his head bowed as if willing it to fill again, giving him a reason to enjoy the shelter that the indoors provided. I could almost touch the conflict going on inside of him, a battle of wills as if he was negotiating with an imaginary devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. I sensed a cramp of discomfort seizing his insides, compelling him to flee, then a silent resolve, as if a moment of clarity had graced his consciousness.
Scarface shows how the fast life is not the best life to take. The illegal drug business will always end in negative ending resulting in death or being imprisoned. This movie showcased what the public in the area of Miami had to go through including the law. The 1980s was a major time for the break of cocaine. Tony Montana gained so much power with the distribution of cocaine. This movie came together so well because of the time frame. The break of cocaine caused a lot of crime to rise in Miami, Florida. An estimated 70% of all marijuana and cocaine imported into the U.S. passes through South Florida. Drug smuggling could be the region’s major industry, worth anywhere from $7 billion to $12 billion a year. (Rivers, 1996) This movie correlated with the immigration of the Cuban community in America. Since the spring of 1980, when Cuban President Fidel Castro opened the port of Mariel to those who wanted to leave, about 125,000 “Marielitos” have landed in South Florida. In addition, 25,000 refugees have arrived from Haiti; boatloads of half-starved Haitians are washing up on the area’s beaches every week. (Rivers, 1996) A lot of illegal immigrants rose the rate of unemployment, taxed social services, irritated racial tensions and helped send the crime rate to staggering heights. Rebellious immigrants are believed to be responsible for half of all violent crime in Miami. Tony Montana was one of those rebellious immigrants who wanted to