Drugs have influenced America's ideas, culture, and music for ages. Illicit narcotics have left the Union in a state of immense debt. Anti-drug policies have spent billions and billions of dollars on prevention, sanctions and rehabilitation. From the Roaring Twenties to Prohibition, drugs have always been fought (Bailey). Most of the time, drugs start out as medicine and end up being harmful (Morris). Perhaps the most notable and influential periods of drug use in America were the two decades of the 1960s and twenty years later, the 1980s. It may very well be that these two decades shaped America for become what it is today. The 1960s were heavily influenced by conservative post-war America. Vietnam veterans were coming home addicted to heroin, the counterculture was spreading their free love, and music festivals were introducing millions to the new America. The sixties were the first decade that popularized non-alcoholic drug use among young people. When it was realized that drugs were going to be the subject of a major political debate, many representatives, like Nixon, developed the first anti-drug policies since Wilson. And although LSD was created much earlier, "acid", as it was called, became widespread among some American cults. The 1980s were marked by Ronald Reagan's war on drugs, the crack epidemic in major cities and the emergence of the Colombian cartels as a threat. Highway kingpin Ricky Ross got his start in the '80s and organized an empire based solely on drugs. Advertising campaigns featuring the first lady, Nancy Reagan, were launched in an attempt to encourage children to “say no” and “no to drugs” (Martin). The crack epidemic hit so hard that many conspiracy theories claimed the CIA was sending crack...... middle of paper ...... more cautious about who they slept with and they were safer to wear protection in the form of condoms. No one knew where AIDS came from, but the blame was placed on the gay community. It was assumed that if you were gay you had AIDS, and vice versa. This change in thinking launched the first major gay rights movements in America. These movements were not very successful, but they left a lasting impression that is felt today. The movements of the 1980s were a springboard for today's movements for same-sex marriage and anti-discrimination laws. Cocaine indirectly contributed to gay rights. With drugs having such an impact on America, it is difficult to imagine an America without them. Maybe America wouldn't be in debt; however, the same result could be achieved by avoiding pouring billions of dollars into the DEA. America has been forever marked by counterculture and the war on drugs..