Drug use in history

•How might psychoactive drugs have been

discovered?
•Plants with such drugs would have been
common
•Mushrooms – cool regions
•Peyote – deserts
•Poppies –various areas
•Coca leaves – Central, South America
•Cannabis -- everywhere
Shamans used hallucinogen drugs as part of
their rituals
Ebers Papyrus (1500 B.C.) – 65-foot long
Egyptian scroll with over 800 prescriptions for
many ailments.
Early use of specific drugs…
"Presently she cast a drug into the wine of which
they drank to lull all pain and anger and bring
forgetfulness of every sorrow."
The Odyssey, Homer (Ninth century B.C.)

Sumerians (in now Iraq) cultivated poppies,

extracted opium at end of 3rd millennium B.C.

•Called opium “gil.”

•Probably used for religious rituals.

Use of fibers from cannabis plants for pots –
Stone Age (10,000 years ago), Taiwan

Psychopharmacological use – China, 2737 B.C.

•Shen Nung supposedly shared knowledge of
the plant.
•Emphasis on use for rheumatism, gout,
malaria, and absent-mindedness.
Cannabis used for intoxicating effects in
India in 1000 B.C.
Bhang (drink) still used today; part of
religious festivals.
•Leaves of coca plant chewed by Incas in
Peru (13th century – 1500s)
•Still chewed by Peruvian men in Andean
mountains.
•First alcohol use thought to be mead,
fermented honey – 8,000 B.C.
•First beer (brewery) – 3700 B.C., Egypt.
Drugs in the nineteenth century

•Morphine extracted from poppy plants; used

for pain.

•Heroin, made form morphine, used to treat

coughing.
Drugs in the nineteenth century

•Morphine extracted from poppy plants; used

for pain.

•Heroin, made form morphine, used to treat

coughing.

•Cocaine extracted from coca leaves; used as

stimulant, antidepressant, and for addiction to
other drugs.
Drugs in the nineteenth century

•Patent medicines available in stores, through

peddlers, etc. contained opium, alcohol,
cocaine.
•Most people in Europe and U.S. had opium at
some time.
•Most drank it as laudanum.
Drugs in the twentieth century

•By 1900, concerns were raised about drug

dependence.
•Laws followed restricting access to drugs.
•Concerns about alcohol also raised (leading to
prohibition).
 Drugs in the twentieth century
1945 – 1960

•Early 1950s – first big advance in therapeutic

drugs in psychiatry (chlorpromazine) – a major
tranquilizer.
•Also in 1950s – Miltown (meprobamate) – a
minor tranquilizer
 Drugs in the twentieth century
1945 – 1960

•Smoking, drinking not really considered drug-

taking behavior.
•Heroin, cocaine, marijuana:
•“Other people” used them.
•Seen as only used by criminals, poor, and
nonwhites.
•Overall, for most Americans, drugs not seen
as an issue.
 Drugs in the twentieth century
After 1960

•Idea that working hard, living good would 

happiness undermined by news events.
•Young people turned to drugs in search for
answers.
 Drugs in the twentieth century
After 1960

•Idea that working hard, living good would 

happiness undermined by news events.
•Young people turned to drugs in search for
answers.
•Marijuana, LSD, etc. no longer just being used
by “other people.”
•Research into the effects of drugs on brain
starts.
•Cocaine and later (1985) crack use increase.
The earliest use of psychoactive drugs were
for what two general purposes?

-- Religious
-- Medicinal

What drug was used for medicinal purposes

in China around 2700 BC and later as part
of religious celebration in India?
-- Marijuana
In the late 18th century in the USA, cocaine
and opiates were

A) only used by “other people.”

B) commonly found in medicine.
C) never used recreationally.
D) illegal.
The rise of major tranquilizer use for mental
illness and Miltown for anxiety started in

A) the 40’s.
B) the 50’s.
C) the 60’s.
D) the 70’s.
Drug laws
For an illicit drug, which of the following is
illegal?:

•Manufacturing drug
•Importing drug
•Selling drug
•Possessing drug
•Using drug
•Being a drug addict
Drug laws
•Before 20th century, there some attempts at
sanctions on drugs, but no real laws.

•Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)

•Required manufacturers to list amounts of
alcohol or any “habit forming” drug (cocaine,
opiates).
•Sale of these products unrestricted.
•Did not help addicts, but may have
decreased number of new ones.
•Led eventually to Food and Drug
Administration
Drug laws
Harrison Narcotics Tax Act (1914)

•Target was opiates and cocaine (erroneously

both called “narcotics”)
•Importation, manufacture, sale, or
dispensation of these required:
•Registration with Treasury Department
•Paying of a tax
•Record keeping of transaction
•Distribution by physicians allowed "in the
course of his professional practice only."
Drug laws
Harrison Narcotics Tax Act (1914)

•Patent medicines could still be made if doses

of opiates were low enough.
•Did lead to opening (for short time) of drug
treatments centers.
Drug laws
Eighteenth Amendment to Constitution (1920)

•In late 1700s, physicians and other raised

concerns about long-term effects of alcohol.
“Strong liquor is more destructive than
the sword. The destruction of war is
periodic, whereas alcohol exerts its
influence upon human life at all times
and in all seasons. . . . A nation
corrupted by alcohol can never be
free.” (Benjamin Rush, 1785)
Drug laws
Eighteenth Amendment to Constitution (1920)

•In late 1700s, physicians and other raised

concerns about long-term effects of alcohol.
•American Temperance Society forms in
1826.
•Women’s Christian Temperance Union
formed in 1873.
Drug laws
Eighteenth Amendment to Constitution (1920)

•In late 1700s, physicians and other raised

concerns about long-term effects of alcohol.
•American Temperance Society forms in
1826.
•Women’s Christian Temperance Union
formed in 1873.
•By 1920, 65% of country had banned
alcohol.
•18th amendment went into effect in 1920.
Drug laws
•Marijuana Tax act (1937) – Similar to
Harrison Act in that it banned nonmedical use
of cannabis and taxed importers, sellers, and
dispensers.

•Controlled Substances Act (1970) –

Replaced, update previous federal laws.
• Creation of DEA.
• Establishment of schedules of controlled
substances.
Drug laws
Schedule of controlled substances is based
on
•Whether or not there is medical use for the
drug.
•The potential for abuse.

Based partly on science and partly on political

considerations.
Schedule Description Examples

I Substances that have Heroin, LSD,

no accepted medical mescaline,
use in the U.S. and marijuana, THC,
have a high abuse MDMA
potential
Schedule Description Examples

II Substances that have a Opium, morphine,

high abuse potential codeine, cocaine,
with severe psychic or amphetamine,
physical dependence methylphenidate
liability (Ritalin),
pentobarbital,
phencyclidine
(PCP).
Schedule Description Examples

III Substances that have Paregoric,

an abuse potential less barbiturates
than those in except those
Schedules I and II, listed in another
including compounds schedule.
containing limited
quantities of certain
narcotics and
nonnarcotic drugs.
Schedule Description Examples

IV Substances that have Phenobarbital,

an abuse potential less chloral hydrate,
than those in Schedule diazepam
III. (Valium),
alprazolam
(Xanax).
Schedule Description Examples

V Substances that have Robitussin A-C,

an abuse potential less Lomotil.
than those in Schedule
IV, consisting of
preparations containing
limited amounts of
certain narcotic drugs
generally for
antitussive (cough
suppressant) and
antidiarrheal purposes.
Schedule of controlled substances

•It has been updated periodically.

•Schedule I drugs mainly used for research.
•All drugs, and particularly those in I and II, require
strict record keeping and maintenance of drugs in
safe.
•Schedule determines violation penalties,
prescription guidelines
•Many drugs with psychiatric uses (antidepressants)
are not scheduled.
•Some have argued that the classification has not
kept up with science.
Some conclusions about federal drug laws

•Result from increased drug use and/or

perceived societal danger.
•Current laws not consistent with what is
known (marijuana vs nicotine, for example).
•Legal mechanisms have limited ability to
prevent drug use (see Prohibition).
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/access/id/59911/name/marijuana_us.gif