drug use in the united states during the 1970's was conditioned on significant societal changes. those changes manifested themselves beginning in the '60's with the deterioration of the social consensus that had been in place for the previous half century. elites who embodied the values characterizing that consensus were likewise discredited. the social/cultural changes which followed centered around a loosening of the previous social controls and and emphasis on individual -- as opposed to collective -- concerns. the initial goal was to discover new and more harmonious methods of socal organization. in this atmosphere, the popularity of drug taking flourished. by the latter part of the 1970's, the phenomenon had transformed into self-centered individualism, a trend which carried over into the aggressive materialism of the 1980's. because the basic philosohical issues raised in the '60's were not adequately addressed, the use of drugs in the 1990's continued and increased, reaching especially into younger and younger age groups and was associated with more egregious forms of social disorganization. by the 2020's, the situation had greatly deteriorated. primarily due to new and adapted technologies, the creation of novel psychoactive drugs had accelerated and proliferated in the decade following the turn of the century. although society had suffered a number of major upheavals, as well as chronic and increasingly serious forms of social disorganization, nothing in the way of new social paradigms had emerged. an entire underclass had developed largely due to the impairments and dislocations caused by drug abuse. this group had become increasingly isolated and vicious in response to not only the effects of the drugs, but because of the decision made by other segments of society to withdraw all social services and other supports. nonetheless, considerable public resources were still allocated to the punishment of individuals suspected of drug manufacture and trafficking. however, the large alcoholic beverage and tobacco combines continued to receive government subsidies and no one had yet been able to develop a successful program to reverse the high numbers of overdoses and brain damaged invalids resulting from rampant use of the new and constantly changing technodrugs by young people. michael bergman