I would wager a guess thats simply more of a cyclical occurrence combined with the advent of the internet/social media era. In the 60's there were massive protests, riots, and woodstock. In the 70's domestic terrorism swept the nation and there were thousands of bombings etc.
I'm not saying the behavior isn't strange, but I think it is more of a result of social media and the internet which have had an impact on virtually everyone in the US as opposed to a prescription drug that a relatively small number of people took.
Either way its definitely an interesting topic!