10 things you could do in the ’80s but not today
The 1980s brought big hair, neon fashion, and shockingly different laws that seem almost unrecognizable compared to today’s legal landscape. The decade’s regulatory environment reflected dramatically different attitudes about public health, personal freedom, consumer protection, and emerging technologies. The rapid social and technological changes of recent decades have transformed what society considers acceptable behavior and what risks the government should regulate.
But soon, Reagan-era policies, the War on Drugs, and pre-internet life would reshape American legal frameworks. The contrast between then and now reveals how profoundly society’s priorities have shifted regarding individual rights, public health, and technological regulation. Understanding these changes provides insight into how quickly legal norms can evolve and how contemporary freedoms weren’t always guaranteed.
This examination of everyday activities reveals what would land you in trouble today but not during the era of VCRs, leg warmers, and cassette tapes.
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Smoking indoors & on planes
The ’80s restaurant experience included pervasive cigarette smoke as smoking was generally permitted in restaurants, shopping malls, airplanes, and most public indoor spaces without restriction. The concept of designated non-smoking sections existed but often provided minimal separation, with smoke freely drifting across arbitrary dividers. Many diners considered tobacco smoke an unavoidable aspect of eating out, and requesting smoke-free environments seemed unreasonable to most establishment owners who feared alienating smoking customers.
Today’s smoke-free dining represents a complete reversal as comprehensive public health bans now prohibit indoor smoking in restaurants across most states and municipalities. The shift reflects accumulated evidence about secondhand smoke’s dangers and changing social attitudes about exposing non-smokers to health risks for smokers’ convenience. The transformation happened gradually through local ordinances before spreading nationally, demonstrating how public health priorities can fundamentally reshape social spaces. Younger generations often express shock when learning that smoking in restaurants was once not just legal but ubiquitous.
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Riding without seatbelts
Seatbelt laws were minimal, inconsistent, and often only applied to front-seat passengers during the ’80s, with many states having no requirements at all or only for children. The resistance to seatbelt mandates reflected libertarian arguments about government overreach into personal decisions and skepticism about their effectiveness. Many people considered seatbelts uncomfortable nuisances rather than essential safety equipment, and cars often buried buckles in seats to avoid the discomfort of sitting on them.
Comprehensive mandatory seatbelt use for all vehicle occupants is now law across all states, though specific requirements vary regarding enforcement methods and which seats require restraints. The change followed overwhelming crash data showing that seatbelts dramatically reduce injury and death rates in accidents. The “Click It or Ticket” campaigns and primary enforcement laws, which allow police to stop drivers solely for seatbelt violations, represent significant government intervention that would have seemed unthinkable to many Americans of the 1980s. The seat belt transformation demonstrates how public health evidence can overcome initial resistance to safety regulations.
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Certain “intimate” acts
Many states still had sodomy laws during the ’80s that criminalized certain intimate acts, often targeting same-sex couples, through selective enforcement, even when laws technically applied to everyone. These laws allowed police to arrest consenting adults for private intimate behavior that violated moral standards encoded in criminal statutes. The AIDS crisis intensified enforcement and hostility toward LGBTQ+ communities, with sodomy laws serving as tools for harassment and discrimination.
These laws have been ruled unconstitutional and repealed following the Supreme Court’s 2003 Lawrence v. Texas decision that established a constitutional right to sexual privacy. The legal transformation reflects broader acceptance of LGBTQ+ rights and recognition that government shouldn’t regulate consensual adult sexual behavior. The change represents one of the most dramatic shifts in American law regarding personal liberty and moral legislation. The fact that criminal penalties existed for private consensual acts shocks many younger people who’ve never lived under such restrictions.
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Being married to a same-sex partner
Same-sex marriage was legally unthinkable during the ’80s, with no states recognizing such unions and federal law explicitly limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples through the Defense of Marriage Act passed in the ’90s. The concept seemed so radical that most LGBTQ+ advocacy focused on more immediately achievable goals like employment discrimination protections and hate crime laws. The AIDS crisis devastated gay communities while also highlighting the legal vulnerabilities that lack of marriage rights created when partners couldn’t make medical decisions or inherit property.
Marriage equality became a nationally protected right through the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which required all states to recognize same-sex marriages. The transformation from complete prohibition to constitutional protection occurred remarkably quickly compared to most civil rights advances. The change reflects shifting public opinion, particularly among younger generations, and a successful legal strategy that framed marriage as a fundamental right rather than a special privilege. The fact that same-sex couples can now marry anywhere in America represents one of the most significant legal and social changes of recent decades.
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Consuming legal recreational cannabis
The War on Drugs was in full swing during the ’80s, making cannabis possession highly illegal with severe penalties that often resulted in lengthy prison sentences even for small amounts. The “Just Say No” campaign and mandatory minimum sentencing laws reflected zero-tolerance approaches that treated marijuana as a dangerous drug equivalent to cocaine and heroin. The Reagan administration dramatically escalated enforcement, leading to mass incarceration that disproportionately affected communities of color.
Legal recreational cannabis is now available in an increasing number of states that have established regulated markets allowing adults to purchase marijuana from licensed dispensaries. The shift reflects changing attitudes about marijuana’s dangers, recognition that prohibition failed, and the desire to redirect law enforcement resources toward more serious crimes. The transformation from Schedule I controlled substance to legal recreational product sold in stores represents a complete reversal of drug policy orthodoxy. The fact that people can now legally purchase products that would have resulted in arrest and imprisonment decades ago demonstrates how dramatically drug laws can change despite federal prohibition remaining in place.
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Using lawn darts for backyard fun
Heavy, metal-tipped lawn darts known as Jarts were a common backyard game during the ’80s, despite causing numerous injuries due to their dangerous design, which combined substantial weight with sharp points. The toys were marketed for outdoor recreation and appeared at barbecues and family gatherings despite obvious risks. The combination of alcohol consumption at adult gatherings and the presence of children created dangerous situations that resulted in thousands of emergency room visits and several deaths.
Banned for sale in the United States following a 1988 Consumer Product Safety Commission ruling that came after a child’s death from a lawn dart injury, the prohibition remains in effect, with the agency recalling existing sets. The ban represents the type of consumer protection regulation that developed as injury data accumulated and public awareness of dangers increased. The fact that such obviously dangerous toys were once casually sold and used demonstrates the evolution of consumer safety standards. Vintage Jarts now appear in online auctions as collectibles, reminding people of the ’80s more cavalier approach to recreational safety.
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Buying diet pills with phenylpropanolamine
Phenylpropanolamine was a common ingredient in diet aids and cold medicines during the 1980s, marketed as an appetite suppressant and decongestant, despite an inadequate understanding of its cardiovascular risks. The compound appeared in popular products like Dexatrim and Acutrim that promised easy weight loss through over-the-counter pills. The widespread availability reflected less stringent FDA oversight of dietary supplements and over-the-counter medications compared to prescription drugs.
The FDA banned PPA from over-the-counter use in 2000 after studies linked it to increased stroke risk, particularly in women, forcing manufacturers to reformulate products or remove them from shelves. The ban demonstrates how ongoing research can reveal dangers in previously approved substances and how regulatory agencies respond when evidence demonstrates unacceptable risks. The fact that people casually purchased and consumed products now recognized as dangerous highlights how consumer protection standards have improved. The episode highlights the ongoing tension between the need for quick access to weight-loss products and the importance of adequate safety testing.
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Using lead-based gasoline
Lead was being phased out of gasoline during the ’80s, but it remained widely used as older vehicles still required leaded fuel, and complete elimination took time. The compound had been added to gasoline since the 1920s to prevent engine knocking and improve performance despite early evidence of its neurotoxic effects. The petroleum industry resisted the elimination of leaded gasoline for decades, citing costs and performance concerns while downplaying health impacts.
Leaded gasoline is now banned for public use due to overwhelming evidence about health and environmental hazards from lead exposure that causes neurological damage, particularly in children. The phase-out represents one of the most significant victories for ecological health, with subsequent studies showing dramatic decreases in blood lead levels and associated health problems. The removal of lead from gasoline required the use of catalytic converters in newer vehicles and the reformulation of fuel chemistry. The fact that people routinely pump toxic heavy metals into the air while fueling their cars demonstrates how environmental protection standards have advanced.
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Decrypting cable and satellite signals
Unauthorized decoding or descrambling of pay-TV signals became a significant legal issue during the ’80s as cable and satellite television expanded rapidly and signal piracy became widespread. The devices that allowed free viewing of premium channels were sold openly in some markets despite their illegal purpose. The cable industry pushed for stronger legal protections as signal theft cost them substantial revenue.
Digital encryption is now more secure, and unauthorized access is strictly illegal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which established severe penalties for circumventing copy protection and access controls. The modern streaming era has given rise to new piracy methods, but the legal framework treats unauthorized access to digital content more seriously than analog signal theft was previously prosecuted. The evolution from relatively unsophisticated scrambling systems to modern encryption demonstrates the technological arms race between content providers and pirates. The stronger legal protections reflect both improved lobbying by media companies and recognition that digital piracy can occur at a scale impossible with analog technologies.
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Placing calls to 809 area code numbers
The 809 area code covering the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean islands was frequently used in dial-a-porn scams during the ’80s that led to huge, unexpected long-distance charges on phone bills. The schemes involved deceptive advertising or messages that encouraged people to call 809 numbers without clearly disclosing that they were expensive international calls rather than domestic toll-free numbers. The billing practices allowed these charges to accumulate to hundreds or thousands of dollars before consumers received bills.
Modern cell phone plans with international calling options and new regulations, plus technologies, have made this type of accidental massive-bill fraud from a standard area code virtually impossible. The telecommunications industry faced legal crackdowns on deceptive billing practices and improved disclosure requirements about call costs. The prevalence of unlimited or flat-rate calling plans has eliminated per-minute charges that made such scams profitable. The transformation demonstrates how both regulatory changes and technological shifts can eliminate entire categories of fraud that once victimized consumers.
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Conclusion
The 1980s were a time of rapid change, during which laws struggled to keep pace with evolving social norms, emerging health information, and new technologies that created situations legislators hadn’t anticipated. The decade’s legal framework reflected different priorities about individual liberty, public health, consumer protection, and moral regulation compared to contemporary values. The transformation from that era to today reveals how profoundly legal landscapes can shift within a single generation.
The things we take for granted as legal today represent shifting priorities in public safety, technology regulation, and individual rights that previous generations would have found remarkable or shocking. Understanding these changes provides insight into the contingent nature of current legal frameworks and their potential for continued evolution. Which of these legal transformations most surprises you about how different the recent past was from today? Check out our other cultural history articles here at MediaFeed to discover additional insights into how rapidly American laws and social norms have changed over recent decades.
Related:
- 12 things you’re doing today that were illegal 20 years ago
- 19 Foods Banned Abroad, But Not in America
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This article was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
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