Cocaine

By the 1970s, when illegal drug use became more widespread in the general population, middle- and upper-class groups began to use cocaine in its white crystalline form. A mythology of its effectiveness as an aphrodisiac (a substance supposed to enhance the sex drive), a mental energizer, and a self-esteem booster began to develop. Along with benefits that active and ambitious middle-class people hoped for in their drug of choice, came reports of the relative safety of cocaine use in comparison to other drugs. The harsh lessons learned around the turn of the century were all but forgotten.