They were in my humble opinion the proto "gorilla pills". What ever valid reason for their being considered medicinal obviosly didn't stand up to scrutiny for long.
As for abuse [rec. use] another enigma to me. No euphoria worth the mentioning, however the slapstick humor of taking "one small step for mankind" and falling down the remaining 15/20 stairs at a public place was remarkable.
We were eejits who's ideas of 'counter-culture' was so remarkably free of responsibility for ones poor choices, that I hope the social pendulum swings a bit less wide in days to come.