Psychedelic Drug Use, the Mind, and Society.

The rise of a drug culture, and in particular the rise of conciousness expanding drugs, as it existed and developed in the 1960s signified a decline in the civilization of Western society.  In primitive societies, drug use had been common and the shaman served as the vehicle by which drugs were made available to society at large.  With drug use came a drug culture, a sort of hedonic version of asceticism.  This further indicates a case of cultural decline.