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The Craziest Drugs in the History of Medicine
Everyone knows that heroin is one of the scariest drugs these days, but not everyone knows that it was used in 1971 as a cough remedy.
Under the leadership of Heinrich Dreser, director of Bayer’s research programs, a drug was created that had the properties of a painkiller and was much better and safer than morphine. Since this medicine had another property, it caused a violent emotional reaction, almost heroic inspiration, it was called “heroin”.
The most common disease of the last century was tuberculosis. At that time, antibiotics had not yet been invented, so the only drug to suppress the symptoms of the disease was cocaine, which was created specifically for medicinal purposes.
However, some time later it turned out that the drug is acutely addictive. Therefore, in 1898, the German pharmaceutical company Bayer AG released the cough medicine diacetylmorphine, under the trademark "heroin".
The success of this novelty was stunning. Heroin - in the form of a syrup or tablets - doctors prescribed for influenza and heart complaints, diseases of the gastric tract and extensive sclerosis. Any criticism of the drug at the time was perceived as slander of competitors, and no one paid attention to it.
The young republic of the Soviets also played an important role among the producers of “opium for the people”.
The drug lost its value only after World War II, but it was still sold in pharmacies. Heroin was not banned in Germany until 1971.
Source: /users/448
Under the leadership of Heinrich Dreser, director of Bayer’s research programs, a drug was created that had the properties of a painkiller and was much better and safer than morphine. Since this medicine had another property, it caused a violent emotional reaction, almost heroic inspiration, it was called “heroin”.
The most common disease of the last century was tuberculosis. At that time, antibiotics had not yet been invented, so the only drug to suppress the symptoms of the disease was cocaine, which was created specifically for medicinal purposes.
However, some time later it turned out that the drug is acutely addictive. Therefore, in 1898, the German pharmaceutical company Bayer AG released the cough medicine diacetylmorphine, under the trademark "heroin".
The success of this novelty was stunning. Heroin - in the form of a syrup or tablets - doctors prescribed for influenza and heart complaints, diseases of the gastric tract and extensive sclerosis. Any criticism of the drug at the time was perceived as slander of competitors, and no one paid attention to it.
The young republic of the Soviets also played an important role among the producers of “opium for the people”.
The drug lost its value only after World War II, but it was still sold in pharmacies. Heroin was not banned in Germany until 1971.
Source: /users/448
