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Complete PICLE corpus of essays by Polish advanced EFL students (330,000)

/^t/The history of drugs reaches even ancient times. Different kinds of stupefacients were used in relligious practices mainly by priests. At the end of XIX century they gained popularity especiolly among aristocracy. Smoking opium or experiments with morphine were very fashionable among higher classes of a society. Between the wars mainly artists and European aristocracy were using all the accisible narcotics. However, not until the era of hippie were drugs introduced for good in our lives. They became the symbol of the 60's. Nowadays drugs are one of the most serious problems of the modern world. Even Poland, where democratic processes and western influences started comparatively late, has very quickly become one of the biggest producer and exporter of amphetamine in Europe. Plantations of marijuana can be found everywhere, and even LSD is manufactured here. Younger and younger people are addicted to drugs, which can meean everything from cigarette and alcohol to heroin, cannabis, amphetamine, LSD and cocaine. It's proved by science and experience that drugs can cause confusion and frightening, hallucinations, unbalanced emotions, serious medical disordes, phisical deterioration, or even death. They can infect the system leading to sores, jaundice, blood poisoning or AIDS disease. All drugs can be divided into two groups; soft ones like for example marijuana or hashish, and so called hard drugs, represented by amphetamine, LSD, cocaine etc.