Health/Medical
See other Health/Medical Articles
Title: 10 Illegal Drugs That Used To Be Sold Over The Counter
Source:
Business Pundit
URL Source: http://www.businesspundit.com/10-il ... d-to-be-sold-over-the-counter/
Published: Nov 27, 2011
Author: Julian
Post Date: 2015-10-28 07:14:38 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 7749
Comments: 22
The idea of drugs being “good” or “bad” depending on whether they are legal or not is a relatively new concept. Most of the laws criminalizing psychoactive drugs only came into effect in the 20th century, and before they were outlawed, a fair number were freely available. As scientific and chemical analysis became more sophisticated, and the effects of drugs were more widely studied, lawmakers deemed it necessary to limit the availability of certain drugs, while taking little or no action against other popular — but often just as damaging — drugs from which corporations were making a killing (*cough* nicotine, alcohol). Here, then, are 10 drugs that can get people high (some more dangerous than others) which used to be sold over the counter. Just don’t complain to your local pharmacist. Opium, the milky fluid extracted from the opium poppy, has been used since ancient times as a powerful narcotic. Islamic societies, for instance, knew of its effectiveness as a painkiller (and doubtless the blissful high it could induce) long before its re-introduction to Western societies around the 16th century. Its popular medicinal use continued well into the 19th century, and it was freely available over the counter. It was sold, for example, dissolved in alcohol in the tincture known as laudanum, which was a favorite among the poor. Famously, the British even fought wars with China over the opium trade, such was the value that was seen in the drug. In the years before Britain’s 1868 Pharmacy Act limited its availability, opium was freely accessible to anyone who wished to buy or sell it. The fact that a significant proportion of the population was dependent on the drug went largely ignored. Cannabis (a.k.a. marijuana in widely adopted slang) — or to give it its older name, hemp — has been used by humanity for its euphoric effects since the dawn of time. In America, for example, it was used enthusiastically for such properties — as well as for its excellent qualities as a strong rope-making fiber — by new European settlers, who found that the plant could grow in abundance in the new soil on which they had landed. In 1619, legislation was passed by the Virginia Assembly stipulating that all farmers were obligated to grow hemp. Early American presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson even grew the weed in their own backyards. The first laws concerning cannabis distribution were not passed until 1906, and sentences for possession of the drug were not handed out before the 1940s — after it had become enmeshed in the public consciousness with fears about Mexican immigration. Before then, the drug was widely available from catalogues and pharmacies: at the turn of the 20th century $2.40 would have bought you an ounce of resin. Benzedrine, in the form of inhalers and later tablets, was readily available over the counter until the 1950s. Marketed under this brand name by Smith, Kline & French (the company that was to become part of GlaxoSmithKline), the drug was initially used as a bronchodilator. However, people who needed help to breathe soon discovered that the innocuous inhaler had a potent stimulant effect. By 1949, many stories had been reported of the drug being used for recreational purposes, as well as as an appetite suppressant. A decade later, “bennies” (as they came to be known) were reclassified as a controlled substance. Benzedrine was then replaced by non-prescription inhalers containing propylhexedrine, which was sold as Benzedrex. Methamphetamine — or to give it its street names, crystal meth, ice or glass — is a particularly strong form of amphetamine. It can create intense feelings of alertness, euphoria and self-esteem when taken in large enough doses. It is also highly addictive, can quickly lead to anxiety and paranoia, and is associated with a range of serious public health issues. Methamphetamine can be produced in home laboratories using pseudoephedrine or ephedrine, which interestingly used to be active ingredients in over-the-counter medicines like Sudafed. Over the last two decades, more and more restrictions have been placed on products that contain the aforementioned chemicals (Sudafed no longer contains the ingredient, for example) and today buyers need identification to purchase them. Amyl nitrate, popularly known as “poppers” (because of the popping sound originally made by crushing the glass receptacle that held the liquid), used to be available for legal purchase in the United States. From 1960 to 1969 it could be obtained without a prescription. By the end of the 1980s, after a rise in casual use was observed, it was deemed too dangerous and was banned. That said, until very recently it was still widely available in continental European countries such as France, where the dizziness and “rush” associated with it were sought after. In the UK, poppers can still be bought in stores, usually in drug paraphernalia “head shops.” Online suppliers having circumvented the 1968 ban on their sale for human consumption by marketing them as room deodorizers. The pain-relieving drug codeine is a derivative of opium that was first isolated in 1832 by French chemist Pierre Robiquet. While codeine can be obtained directly from the opium poppy, it is more commonly extracted and synthesized from morphine. Apparently favorites of late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, cough syrups and cold remedies containing codeine were commonly available without prescription until relatively recently in the United States. Medicines containing the ingredient can still be found in pharmacies around the world. Mephedrone, also known as meph, drone and MCAT, made headlines in Britain in 2010 when there were widespread reports of a craze for the drug sweeping the nation. Producing a similar effect to MDMA (ecstasy), amphetamines (speed) and cocaine, the drug is believed to have been be manufactured in China and is chemically similar to the East African plant khat, which is also taken for the high it induces. The drug was first synthesized in 1929. It was however not widely known about until 2003, when it became easily obtainable over the counter and extremely popular in the UK and other European nations — where it was sold as “plant food” to bypass laws against its sale for human consumption. Nevertheless, in 2010 the EU ruled it illegal and America has followed suit as of October 2011. The coca leaf has been used by people indigenous to South America for thousands of years, although the isolation of cocaine itself, by the German chemist Friedrich Gaedcke, was not achieved until 1855. It will probably come as no surprise by now that the drug widely known as coke used to be freely available to buy over the counter in Europe and the United States. Anesthetic toothache powders and congestion relief medicines all contained cocaine at one time. These products (as well as Coca-Cola, which really did use cocaine as an ingredient when it was first produced, and later coca leaves until 1906) could be easily procured at the local pharmacy. Drug companies like Parke-Davis (a subsidiary of Pfizer) and Merck sold it in forms ranging from cigarettes to powders to a mixture for injecting! It was only later — in 1914 in the US — that the sale and distribution of cocaine was outlawed, its dangers having been entwined with American social and racial moral panics. Today, substances such as lidocaine replicate cocaine’s numbing effects without the general euphoria that comes with it. The drug commonly known in America as Quaaludes, “ludes,” Mandrax or Sopors was produced using the sedative-hypnotic drug methaqualone. Originally synthesized in India in 1951, it soon made its way to Europe and Japan as an allegedly safe alternative to barbiturates. Having been available over the counter in Germany in the early ’60s, it appeared in America as the sedative known as Quaaludes in 1965, and by 1972 widespread abuse of the drug had become a problem. Ludes were extensively in use among ’70s college students, who took them in order to experience a dreamy high. However, the risk of overdosing was high, particularly if they were washed down with alcohol. By 1973, it was illegal to be in possession of the drug without a prescription in the US, but that didn’t stop unscrupulous doctors from prescribing it. Still, by 1984, methaqualone had been reclassified as a Schedule I drug, effectively outlawing it. Amazingly, heroin — the notoriously addictive illegal drug today used by 50 million people on a regular basis — was once far more readily available than it is now. Yes, heroin could be acquired over the counter with consummate ease in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in UK and the USA. Synthesized by German chemist Felix Hoffmann, it was commercially produced by Bayer Pharmaceutical from 1898 onwards for medicinal purposes — including as a cough syrup for children and as a “non-addictive morphine substitute.” Surprisingly, its importation and manufacture was not banned in the United States until as late as 1924. It was only with the passing of the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act in 1914 that heroin’s sale and distribution was controlled in the US. It was widely available without a prescription in the UK until 1926. Alarmingly, Bayer sold the substance as a cure for morphine addiction only for it to be discovered that the body quickly processes it into morphine, actually making it a faster-acting and doubly potent alternative. 10. Opium
9. Cannabis
8. Benzedrine (Amphetamine)
7. Methamphetamine (Sudafed)
6. Amyl Nitrate (Poppers)
5. Codeine
4. Mephedrone
3. Cocaine
2. Quaaludes
1. Heroin
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Deckard (#0)
Good. Looks like we got smarter. Only drug addicts are sad about it.
... until they were abused by addicts, placing a heavy social and financial burden on responsible, tax-paying citizens.
LOL yeah parents probably wondered why their kids would not go to sleep for days after this stuff: "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."---Romans 5:6
Dude please tell me you know why this stuff became illegal. "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."---Romans 5:6
I liked those Smith Brothers cough drops as a kid. They tasted like candy. Did they have codeine or heroin in them?
Did they have codeine or heroin in them? If they did Fred it could explain how we got the 60s:) It could explain some of what we see here too! "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."---Romans 5:6
At one time arsenic was popular among women because it gave them a light complesion. Over a period of years people have used a variety of drugs not realizing what the long term effects were. Islamic warriors were given hashish before battle because it rendered them fierce and insensitive to pain or caution. They were called Hashishians. Foreign armies mispronounced the term and it became translated into the word assassin.
You see myths as true and truth as a myth. You're a smart dude but blind in many ways.
I got that "myth" out of a history book many years ago.
... until they were abused by addicts, placing a heavy social and financial burden on responsible, tax-paying citizens. Looks to me like nothing has really changed... Vegetarians eat vegetables. Beware of humanitarians!
Wiki notes that these supposed hash-crazed assassins (a Persian tribe) may be largely mythical and scholars are far from uniformly endorsing the idea as accepted history. It's a notion more of popular history and novels. The idea that marijuana makes people fearless is strange in and of itself. If anything, it makes people paranoid and more fearful. Stoners usually panic and flee, they don't get aggressive in the way you would see with alcohol or crack or cocaine or angel dust. As for combat effectiveness of stoned soldiers, we have our own modern cases to study in our "ally", Afghanistan. Our own trainers were suggesting as many as 80% of the Afghan soldiers were stoners. Also of interest, the amphetamine Captagon is apparently fueling the brutal fighting in Syria now. No fear, lots of energy, never sleep, etc.
Did they have codeine or heroin in them? The red or the black? Vegetarians eat vegetables. Beware of humanitarians!
Just like they used lead in all manner of things and slowly poisoned themselves over a period of time, mainly the Romans... Vegetarians eat vegetables. Beware of humanitarians!
I liked them both equally - the black licorice and wild cherry flavored ones.
You really believe that? Then you must believe that legalizing those 10 drugs and making them cheap and readily available would not increase use or the number of users.
At one time you could order laudanum by the gallon right out of the Sears and Roebuck catalog. My mother was born in 1910,and remembers "older women" ordering it by the gallon when they were "going through the change" because it made them slightly less murderous. And of course we all know that marijuana wasn't illegal until the 30's. Which was probably around the same time that laudanum was made illegal. Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012)
Yes,thank Gawd we have Big Daddy Gubbermint to protect us from ourselves,right? Why....,if it wasn't have our Master,we would have to make our own decisions and be responsible for our own mistakes! I can clearly see why that would scare you. Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012)
The Arab version of "Breaking Bad." "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."---Romans 5:6
Do you realize how easy it is for people to get prescription drugs that are just as bad as the illegal ones??? Sit down and have a discussion with a doctor or nurse that works at a hospital and you'll see what I mean... Most of the people that I know that are "Totally phucked in the head" are that way because of prescription drugs not illegal ones... Vegetarians eat vegetables. Beware of humanitarians!
That's changing quite a bit. At least where I am in Texas. They are throwing poly pharm types in jail and have better controls now. Hospitals and pharmacies are being held in close accountability now. The Army did a big clean up last year due to the pain meds they were handing out like candy. Young Soldiers were getting hooked on legal narcotics. Solution was to introduce more holistic pain management. Civilians going that way too. Case in point. I just had the same major surgery as I did in 2012. In 2012 they hooked up a pain management pump for controlled self administration. Then sent me home with a script with that Narco stuff. I knew better and hardly used the pain pump and when home instead used some extra strength Tylenol or Motrin. But back then they were more than willing to give a patient whatever they wanted. This time no pain pump. They gave a few injections after surgery and the standard take home script is now Tylenol with codine. Once again I stuck with the regular Tylenol and Motrin when necessary. The doc told me there are strict guidelines now. So that's a good news story. "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."---Romans 5:6
Probably as easy a getting a quack's recommendation for marijuana for "pain". So you believe legalization will solve this problem?
No...
Vegetarians eat vegetables. Beware of humanitarians!
#2. To: Deckard (#0)
10 Illegal Drugs That Used To Be Sold Over The Counter ...
#3. To: A K A Stone (#1)
Good. Looks like we got smarter. Only drug addicts are sad about it.
#4. To: Deckard (#0)
#5. To: redleghunter (#4)
#6. To: Fred Mertz, Tomder55, CZ82, liberator, GarySpFc, TooConservative (#5)
I liked those Smith Brothers cough drops as a kid. They tasted like candy.
#7. To: Deckard (#0)
#8. To: rlk (#7)
Islamic warriors were given hashish before battle because it rendered them fierce and insensitive to pain or caution. They were called Hashishians. Foreign armies mispronounced the term and it became translated into the word assassin.
#9. To: A K A Stone (#8)
You see myths as true and truth as a myth.
#10. To: misterwhite (#2)
10 Illegal Drugs That Used To Be Sold Over The Counter ...
#11. To: A K A Stone, rlk, GarySpFc, redleghunter, sneakypete (#8)
Islamic warriors were given hashish before battle because it rendered them fierce and insensitive to pain or caution.
#12. To: Fred Mertz (#5)
I liked those Smith Brothers cough drops as a kid. They tasted like candy.
#13. To: rlk (#7)
Over a period of years people have used a variety of drugs not realizing what the long term effects were.
#14. To: CZ82 (#12)
The red or the black?
#15. To: CZ82 (#10)
"Looks to me like nothing has really changed..."
#16. To: Deckard (#0)
laudanum
#17. To: misterwhite (#15)
Then you must believe that legalizing those 10 drugs and making them cheap and readily available would not increase use or the number of users.
#18. To: TooConservative (#11)
Also of interest, the amphetamine Captagon is apparently fueling the brutal fighting in Syria now. No fear, lots of energy, never sleep, etc.
#19. To: misterwhite (#15)
(Edited)
#20. To: CZ82, tomder55, liberator (#19)
Do you realize how easy it is for people to get prescription drugs that are just as bad as the illegal ones??? Sit down and have a discussion with a doctor or nurse that works at a hospital and you'll see what I mean...
#21. To: CZ82 (#19)
"Do you realize how easy it is for people to get prescription drugs that are just as bad as the illegal ones???"
#22. To: misterwhite (#21)
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]