MOD STYLE AND AMPHETAMINES
The history of mod style exclaimed London as the origin of mod style. The mod movement has started during1950s in London and it peaked in the early to mid 1960s. It has been revealed that the development of the mod style and amphetamines are correlated to one another. In this are we will describe about how amphetamines and mod style are related to each other. We can say that one of the most notable part of the mod subculture and style was the used of recreational amphetamine. It was used to fuel all-night clubs such as Twisted Wheel in Manchester.
According to the newspapers report, dancers emerge from night clubs at 5 O’clock in the morning with dilated pupils. During that period, mods often come to night clubs or bought with a combined amphetamine/barbiturate called Drinamyl. It was nicknamed as ‘purple heart’. They usually bought it from dealers at night clubs like The Scene or The Discotheque. Sources have revealed that Pete Meaden’s ‘clean living’ aphorism were hard to understand in the 2000s because of the association with this amphetamines. This clearly reveals the association of mod style and amphetamines during 1960s mod subculture.
When mods were using amphetamines during the pre-1964 period, the use of amphetamines or drug was legal in Great Britain. During those days the mods used the drugs mainly for stimulation as well as for alertness. They viewed it as a different goal from intoxication or delirium caused by other drugs and alcohol. In fact, during those days, mod style and drug use is completely associated with one another. According to the mods, cannabis is a substance that would slow a person down.
Considering about the association of mod style and amphetamines, Dick Hebdige have the view that, in those days mods generally used amphetamines for extending their leisure time into the early hours of the morning and as a way of bridging the wide gap between their hostile and daunting everyday work lives and the “inner world” of dancing and dressing up in their off-hours. However, according to Dr. Andrew Wilson, for significant minorities, “amphetamines symbolized the smart, on-the-ball, cool image” and that they sought “stimulation not intoxication, greater awareness, not escape” and “confidence and articulacy” rather than the “drunken rowdiness of previous generations. The use of drugs or amphetamines became associated with violence and in mid 1960s the British government criminalized amphetamine use.
