What does a hippie quaalude addict in l974 have in common with 2010 oxy od's?

Young people - my 19 year old and her friends - tell me they really get Erica Mason (quasi-heroine of "Gringa"). In my time, street drugs were psychedelics, "Black beauties," coke. Quaaludes, a drug taken off the market by the end of the l970's, bounced you off the walls and dulled all feeling except a sense of underwatery well-being (sort of). They were classed as a hypnotic, for what it's worth. I don't know about the rest of the planet but they were widely available in sunny Mexico, which is where I discovered them and eventually detoxed off them. That was l973/4; by the end of the decade, they were gone due to their very addictive potency. But people - young people - who go for downers are now widely at risk for the notorious heroin-like oxycontin, though they pay a huge amount for it in every way. Human nature is such that by the time oxies are gone, they will be supplanted by something equally potent and lethal. Serenity has to be worked for and kids want instant gratification. The tragedy of this is that the ultra-addictive nature of this painkiller causes a steady number of o.d.'s. Personally I knew one young man who graduated to heroin from the vile things and was found dead in his bed at l8. If you know someone using them, jump on this - it's not a quick life otherwise and yes, people can detox, recover and live to go through the normal ups and downs of teenagerdom.