[pjc50]

It's not possible to have a popular counter-culture. To be a counterculture requires a certain amount of separation, growth out of the public spotlight. Either the culture goes mainstream (with all the downsides of that) or it has the spotlight turned on it, bringing in people who don't share the original ideals and driving out those who do.

The US drug war landscape is changing. Cannabis is now legal in several states; others are looking at it. It's going to be like equal marriage. Once the first few states have done it and not imploded, it becomes hard to maintain the rationale elsewhere. I reckon it'll be legal in >25 states in a decade and federally in 2-3 decades.