“…So set ‘em up Joe, I’ve gotta story you ought know…” Just for some gruesome 'sh*ts and giggles,' let me tell you what used to be for sale at the local pharmacy….

Bless you Billie. Drugs certainly f$&(ed up your life.

I know, we all hate the Food and Drug Administration. But in the late 19th, early 20th centuries, the government actually worked to remove certain substances that would indeed prove to be 'harmful to the general population.'

Do you wanna know what used to be for sale (off the shelf) at the 19th century equivalent of the local CVS?

Thought you might be up for a horrifically funny/ terrifyingly sad photo essay, to remind you of substances that used to be legal, in the (fairly) recent past.

Heroin. Cocaine. Other fun things. Don't believe me?

As you can see, heroin used to be a common ingredient in aspirin. Not exactly acetaminophen, eh?

Heroin was additionally used for "female complaints" like hysteria and neurasthenia. In those days, these two 'diseases' were used as a catch all for just about any condition doctors regularly associated with women. I don't have to tell you, that this led to a billion misdiagnoses, and contributed to a drastic rise in drug addiction (although addiction had yet to be recognized as a medical condition).

"The synthesis of morphine by Friedrich Sertuerner of Germany in 1803 led physicians to label the drug as "God's own medicine" for its reliability, long-lasting effects, and safety..." https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/buyers/socialhistory.html

Next...cocaine!!!

Sigh.

Cocaine + beer. That IS gonna be one quiet (stoned) baby.

And this nice little collage:

And, we absolutely CANNOT forget Americans' favorite drink:

Yes, that's how it got its' name. But, do you know that it was also "the ideal brain tonic"?

For discriminating people. Wheeeeeeeee!

Did you ever hear about Laudanum Dear Reader?

You may ask: what the hell was Laudanum? What was it made from? Usually, around 20% raw opium (straight from the poppy, folks), and 80% RAW alcohol.

OMG

Let's take a little gander at some ads for this product:

And, what in God's Green Earth is "industrial flavor"?

Read the very bottom of this ad: [for] the "ups and downs of childhood"?

I wonder what Cheech and Chong would've said.

Are you wondering what governmental authorities were smoking in the late nineteenth/early twentieth centuries? Me too. It certainly took a long time for heroin, cocaine, and even morphine, to be classified as dangerous substances by our government. The lack of such legislation definitely contributed both, to the rise of addicts, and deaths from those same drugs.

Next week...the corset!!

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