Drug culture

Drug subcultures are examples of countercultures that are primarily defined by recreational drug use.

Overview

Drug subcultures are groups of people united by a common understanding of the meaning and value (good or otherwise) of the incorporation into one's life of the drug in question. Such unity can take many forms, from friends who take the drug together, possibly obeying certain rules of etiquette, groups banding together to help each other obtain drugs and avoid arrest to full-scale political movements for the reform of drug laws. The sum of these parts can be considered an individual drug's "culture".

Drugs also play an important role in various other subcultures, such as reggae and hip hop music, Rastafari, hippie movements, as well as rave culture, hipster subculture, Rock subculture and to some extent Heavy metal subculture (in particular Stoner metal). Many artists, especially in 20th century and since then, used various drugs and explored their influence on human life in general and particularly on the creative process. Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas employs drug use as a major theme and provides an example of the drug culture of the 1960s.

Cannabis subculture

Cannabis subculture is one of the more predominant drug subcultures. Adherents to the culture are known as 'Stoners' or 'Potheads'. It has been responsible for the genre of films known as stoner films which has come to be accepted as a mainstream cinema movement.

The culture has also spawned its own celebrities (such as Tommy Chong and Terence McKenna) magazines (Cannabis Culture and High Times) and its own holiday, April 20, which has morphed into a day of legalization events. In relation to April the 20th,the famous term '420' makes a notable presence within this subculture.

External links

• Personal stories, poems, information and harm-reduction tips on illicit drugs
• 2007 MassCann/NORML Boston Freedom Rally
• High Points in Recent Pot Culture History — slideshow by The Los Angeles Times