The most recent column states, “Morphine…was first synthesized in 1803, cocaine in 1859.” These dates probably reflect the extraction/isolation of these substances from their natural sources-opium poppies(opium) and coca leaves. The synthesis of these particular drugs is relatively complex and would be very expensive compared to the extraction from natural sources.
bokchoy
bokchoy
The news on narcotics usage spreading as a result of the Civil War is news to me, but I have read that the war also contributed greatly to the proliferation of gun ownership. After the war, the armies just let soldiers take their rifles and guns home with them. I don’t recall the statistics, but although private Americans have always owned weapons, the percentage of American households that owned a gun prior to the war was actually a minute fraction of the percentage that owned a gun after the war. I believe the opinion of my source of information was of the nature that if the Civil War hadn’t occurred, guns wouldn’t have become so prolific in America. Hence, there wouldn’t have been so much gunslinging in the Old West, and even leading up to present day, gun control wouldn’t be such a hot topic. Make of it what you will.
I’d question that source.
While guns might have been rare in private households immediately prior to the Civil War, all the states at the time the Constitution was written had “compulsory militia service” laws, requiring all able-bodied men age 17-45 to show up for musters with their own firearms.
These privately-owned, compulsory firearms might not have been stored in the house (any number of them could’ve been locked up in your shed or someplace equally inaccessible in an emergency), but the household nevertheless had to count them among its property.
A recent examination of probate records showed that prior to the Civil War, only 13% of estates included firearms, and most of these were in a non-functional condition. This is from an NPR “Morning Edition” series that ran a few weeks ago.
The whole Civil War to drug addiction connection presupposes that taking morphine for pain leads to addiction. In my experience it doesnt. My wife took scads of morphine for some severe post-operative pain and had absolutely no craving for the stuff.
I’ve also read several doctor’s memoirs where they marvel over the same phoenomenon. So I suspect those soldiers that were given morphine to ease the pain of shrapnel and cannonball wounds rarely got hooked.
I can’t explain the biochemistry of this effect, but it does seem to exist.
Regarding Bayer’s introduction of Heroin as medication:
Harvey Molotch, well-known Professor of Sociology has in his slide collection an excellent Bayer advertisment which depicts a mother spooning some medicine to her child. The text reads, “Heroin, let the hero in.” I think that says it all.
In my experience it doesnt. My wife took scads of morphine for some severe post-operative pain and had absolutely no craving for the stuff.
George –
You can’t compare your wife’s experience with morphine to that of the Civil War soldiers’ experiences. Back then, (1)morphine was still new, (2)doctors didn’t know proper dosage, (3)doctors weren’t necessarily the ones giving the drugs, and (4)one of the chief goals was to shut these horribly maimed people up.
Nowadays, doctors are terrified of overmedicating (at least with narcotics) for fear of malpractice suits if nothing else. Patients have similar worries. Your wife had the benefit of 100 years of medical research behind her treatment, and was given only enough morphine to dull her pain.
–Da Cap’n
The Civil War happened during the final years of the medical dark ages. Surgeons knew nothing of germs & wiped their scalpels on their bloody aprons. A surgeon might hold the knife between his teeth as he tied arteries. Best estimates are that infant & mother childbirth mortality ROSE during the 1800s, as Victorian prudishness caused women to give birth beneath long skirts, the male doctors (who had discredited midwifery) literally operating in the dark.
[[Nowadays, doctors are terrified of overmedicating (at least with narcotics) for fear of malpractice suits if nothing else. Patients have similar worries. Your wife had the benefit of 100 years of medical research behind her treatment, and was given only enough morphine to dull her pain.]]
–Rowan
Shopping is still cheaper than therapy. --my Aunt Franny
My sympathy to you, Rowan. This is yet another example of the drug paranoia causing more harm than the drugs themselves. Please see Effects of LSD (this forum) and Legalize All Drugs (Great Debates).
Fragano Ledgister
Last season’s fruit is eaten
And the fullfed beast shall kick the empty pail
“Tell me about-- when my father was dying, and in horrible pain, his doctors couldn’t legally give him any more medicine, because he would be receiving addictive levels. This was WEEKS before he died.”
Rowan, times are a-changin’. Doctors have been undereducated about pain control and many still fear giving too much morphine. If a doctor does prescribe adequate amounts, he may fear an audit- the big guys wonder why this doctor’s prescribing scads of the stuff.
As the hospice movement gains speed, people won’t have to suffer like your father did (mine did, too). There are many great methods available for various types of pain and doctors are starting to see the value of improving quality of life, rather than merely prolonging suffering. If you or a loved one is ever terminally ill, demand a hospice consult. Hospice doctors are angels sent to relieve your pain, and they know their stuff.
If you are in pain, large doses of morphine are unlikely to cause addiction. Ironically, if you’re in pain and the doctor prescribes an inadequate dose of morphine you are MORE likely to become addicted: you can’t think of anything else besides getting the drug so your pain will go away. You begin to crave it, physically and mentally, so that when your body heals it still craves the fix.