University of Virginia Library

Hippie Movement Dead, Shankar Says

The hippie movement is dead,
according to Ravi Shankar, India's
master of the sitar and hippie-hero.
He also believes drug-taking
is its way out.

"They Yanks like to do things
as on a big wave," he said. "I
have been saying to some self-appointed
gurus in America that
drugs have nothing to do with
music. I've been against it for
years.

This should please the middle
class, which really gets upset when
a flower-child artist uses LSD
or STP to sharpen his sensitivity
or escape from the harsh realities
of a trying situation with marijuana,
according to the Colorado
Collegian.

"I don't understand the younger
generation and its dependence on
drugs," said the advertising executive
as he washed down a "tension-relieving"
pill with his third
luncheon martini.

"W need some stronger laws
to keep those horrible hippies
from using marijuana and LSD
and all the rest of that junk,"
says the suburban housewife as
she swallows two "activity-boosting"
pills.

A leading "stay-awake" pill, one
of the more innocent of the socially
acceptable and commercially available
mind benders, has launched
an advertising campaign claiming
its product will not only keep
a person awake but also will sharpen
their mind if taken immediately
before the big exam.

A leading "tension-reliever"
promises a state of euphoria
which will enable nervous rides
to get through the wedding. Executives
take it so they can get
through a busy day at the office
and still retain the sunny countenance
needed for promotions and
a Christmas bonus. Husbands take
it to get over the shock of the
wife's new mink. (Escape the harsh
realities of a trying situation?)

And then there are the sleeping
pills. Not too many hippies need
them, but people over 25 do. Or
antihistamine cold tablet. All antihistamines
cloud your judgment.
Have you ever read the fine print
warning users against driving or
operating heavy machinery?

Then there's the stuff you can
get a prescription for if you're
respectable. A diet pill used by
thousands of fairly straight housewives
contains Dexedrine, a strong
stimulant of the central nervous
system (known as "speed" to those
who don't get it in diet pills).
To keep the chubby housewife from
freaking out on Dexedrine, the
pills also contain sodium
amobarbital, which has a strong
tranquilizing effect and is in the
same drug family as phenobarbital
(the "goof ball' drug).

So what's the point? Asks the
Colorado Collegian. Should marijuana,
hashish, LSD, STP, peyote,
cocaine, heroin and birth control
pills be legalized?

Whatever the advocates of these
illegal drugs say, there has been
little research into the effects of
prolonged usage. And in spite of
the questionable morality of a
Great Society stoned on diet and
pep pills these drugs have at least
been approved, presumably after
extensive testing by the Food and
Drug Administration (known as
the Feds to those who don't get
their speed in diet pills). While
these drugs may screw your head
around, they aren't likely to deform
your children.