In the 1970s, the drug culture had gained a foothold in America, but it was still unusual to see drug-impaired people stumbling around the streets. This young, strung-out man tried to sell me dope while I took his picture. He was so high, I’m not sure he knew where or who he was. He’s clutching a drug pipe and lighter in his hand. A reader wrote in to say he thought this was taken where Broadway and Montrose converge with Sheridan Road. He spotted “Top This” in the background and said it was across the corner from Jake’s. Another reader wrote in to say, “(Uptown) was awash in “poor man’s coke” aka THC, angel dust, PCP, all names for a veterinary tranquilizer, easy to synthesize with rudimentary knowledge. Also speed and pot were everywhere.”
