Previous research in this area has been hindered by the recent public perceptions of "Drugs R Bad M'kay?" in often egregious examples of political propaganda st

Previous research in this area has been hindered by the recent public perceptions of "Drugs R Bad M'kay?" in often egregious examples of political propaganda steamrolling academic endeavor. The politics of academia are such now that I fear for any research being done. There's so many parties who have found academic cloaks convenient for their ideological zealotry. I suspect there may be more predators slavering at this announcement than scholars contemplating asking for support from it. Hopefully they can avoid that, and do some good work. One question I'd like to see explored more: why was "annointing with oils" such a common thing in antiquity, and why did it fade out? The descriptions make me suspect it was at least sometimes a vehicle for some active essence, fat soluble, absorb-able through skin. The "altar / censer ash" studies suggest a cocktail of many ingredients in such things. But modern drugs rarely use a topical application path.