Remember the '60s

Mind-altering drugs were the best part of the
1960s. Nowadays these drugs have a bad rep-
utation simply because lots of people died
from them and many more had their lives
ruined. But let’s look on the bright side. I give
an example from personal experience. A cou-
ple of years ago a friend of mine and I both
suffered that common malady of late middle
age: debilitating depression. My friend is six
years older than I — just old enough to have
missed the era of being one’s own pharma-
cist. When depression struck my friend, he
thought, “I’m a worthless human. What have
I done with my life? I make myself and all the
people around me miserable. Why go on?”
I thought, “Bad acid!”
I immediately knew—from extensive
practice of introducing wrong chemicals into
my brain — that wrong chemicals were in my
brain. I went to a doctor. We fiddled around
with drugs, just like I always used to, except
legally. We found something that worked. I
have the right chemicals in my brain. And I
feel great.
My square friend, on the other hand, he…
Well, to tell the truth he did exactly the same
thing I did. He’s got the right chemicals in
his brain too, and he feels great. But there’s
a key difference between sandals-and-pot era
me and white-bucks-and-beer era him. He
keeps asking his doctor when he can get off
his meds. I keep asking if I can get more.

PJ O'Rourke in Prospect.