Summary
Drugs defined a large part of history and in America, especially, is where drugs have defined a culture. Ryan Grim, the author, starts off with his search for LSD (also known as acid) back in 2001 when the use of it started to decline, roughly to 3.5% in 2003, and is almost nonexistent now. However, this doesn't mean that Americans have stopped doing drugs all together but are "always looking for a better way to feed our voracious appetite for getting high" (Grim 4).
The decline of LSD was a chain of events that the U.S government hoped would cease the use and trafficking of it. It starts with William Leonard Pickard's arrest 2 days after the morning of November 6, 2000 when he was transporting equipment to his new LSD lab in Wamego, Kansas. Supposedly, 95% of LSD production was halted with Pickard's arrest. Though, this was not the first time LSD use has declined. In 1995, when Jerry Garcia, the band member of Grateful Dead, died, and the band stopped touring. Phish picked up where Grateful Dead left off and toured until 2000. At these concerts were where LSD was being distributed and used most frequently. When Phish stopped touring, LSD started seeing its decline in use.
