Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Cocaine...shhhhhhh

Blogger Cybot once asked:

"How did the drug market develop in Califormia in these times? Did they use cocaine even in the 60s or in the cocaine wave in the 70s?"

Patty has been thinking about this for the longest time. In her not so young life, she has made some interesting contacts, one of which she posited the following question:

P: "Where was most of the coke coming from in Southern California,circa 1969? One place, different places, was it the Mob, or...?

FOB:"Patty, as best I remember, coke in '69 was strictly a rock star thing. By '73 it was starting to hit the scene, and in a way it changed the whole drug scene. Not in a good way, for the most part. It surprised me that people turned away from psychedelics and even pot for its nice but limited appeal. It was more mystique than effects. Who moved it? A big narco network developed, originating in Colombia and Peru,and of course, the CIA when it became a huge moneymaker. But in '69 it was still pretty limited to people who had money to burn."

Now. before Patty asks this question, please know that Patty does not think Jay was a bad guy for liking cocaine. However: what do you all think this means in relation to Jay, whose cocaine was found at Cielo Drive and cleared out of Easton Drive by Jay's staff right quick? Please weigh in!

"I don't like cocaine, but it smells fabulous." - Unknown





11 comments:

Max Frost said...

You can blame disco music for the real coke surge in the '70s and '80s!

Robert Hendrickson said...

YES Patty, Drugs in the entertainment industry - reminds me of the Charles Manson / Universal Pictures episode. Opps - that was more about LIKE what the HEADLINES are exposing TODAY.

AND that's making Polanski feel like he's got more friends in Hollywood than he ever imagined.

starship said...

Hi, Patty,

Ask your friend about MDMA. I have always wanted to explore the VF angle that he was promised an exclusive to be THE SoCal source of MDMA through the Canadians and their network. Who would this have threatened? Would they have killed him for it? In his absence, who then became the large distributor of MDMA in SoCal? In other words, who would have reaped the benefits of VF's demise?

Could it have been Eddie Nash?

And also, is Joel Rostau a player in all of this, or is he just a sad coincidental footnote?

Patty is Dead said...

Starship, Patty just got done reading "Pursuit of Ecstasy" which has a huge bibliography. Patty may delve deeper but so far the origin of MDA is a mystery. All Patty can find in writing is that even though it was invented around the turn of the century, it wasnt really used until the mid-60's in the Haight Ashbury.

Sasha Shulgin wrote that one "Merrie Kleinman" introduced it to him. He describes her as "spritely." Ptty was pretty sure she figured out who Merrie was, and even contacted her. She said, "I dont know who you are talking about."

Another dead end.

Patty is Dead said...

She will keep trying, of course. Tenacious, or stupid? You be the judge.

Matt said...

Starship, see this post for our conclusions regarding Rostau's role.

Matt said...

Max Frost said...

You can blame disco music for the real coke surge in the '70s and '80s!


I blame I guy I knew in Brooklyn named Vito...


Venus said...

For some reason many people seem to think that Jay was a big cokehead (not saying it's anyone here, just speaking in general terms) However, remember that none was found in his system during his autopsy. The only drugs found in his system then were some painkillers.

Maybe he was just a social user, maybe not.

I know that I never really heard much about it until, yes, the disco era and Studio 54. Not that I was there!

Anyhoo.....

CarolMR said...

Right, Venus. I keep forgetting about the autopsy report.

Patty is Dead said...

Cocaine clears the system really really fast...

G. Greene-Whyte said...

Is it normal to get sweaty palms and suddenly have to go number two when a person sees a photo of cocaine or no? Asking for a friend who used to do really incredibly stupid things.