Valium turns 40.

"Mother's little helper" . . . "Executive excedrin" . . . one of the "dolls" popped by the characters in Jackie Susann's Valley of the Dolls . . . as pointed out in an article in today's Duluth News Tribune, this is the year iconic Valium (diazepam) turns 40. Although Valium is not intended for chronic use, by 1978 American's were downing 2.3 billion tablets a year. Highly useful, but highly abusable, it's the drug that makes me think my generation knows what it's talking about when it worries that our culture has become too dependent on mood altering drugs to get us (and our kids) through the day.