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You'll have an aneurysm when you read about how heroin used to be sold in pharmacies. The drug war is a very recent phenomenon with a lot of dirty politics driv

You'll have an aneurysm when you read about how heroin used to be sold in pharmacies. The drug war is a very recent phenomenon with a lot of dirty politics driving it.

Avshalom 14y ago
heroin is in fact a genericized trademark.
- jrogers65 14y ago
  Did not know this. Apparently Bayer lost the trademark after WW1.
bjhoops1 14y ago
That's crazy! Maybe the most ridiculous drug-related story of all has to be the Opium Wars the British fought in China so they could continue to sell opium to the Chinese masses. True story. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Opium_War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Opium_War (Ever see the portrayal of Marijuana's illegalization at the beginning of Pineapple Express?)
- chimeracoder 14y ago
  Not as crazy as the drama currently unfolding in Afghanistan with the opium trade (spoiler: the US has an incentive to condone growth of opiates, since it reduces local economic dependence on terrorist forces like the Taliban). It's almost fun to watch a government battling two bogeymen against each other, like a child playing with toy action figures.
kristofferR 14y ago
Yeah. Meth is actually still sold in pharmacies for ADHD and obesity in the US.
- derrida 14y ago
  Do you mean Ritalin (Methylphenidate) or Dextroamphetamine? (Both prescribed for ADHD). Either way, that statement is not strictly correct. Dextroamphetamine does get metabolised into Methamphetamine, but it isn't Methamphetamine when it is sold & Methylphenidate is something different.
  - philwelch 14y ago
    Plus, pharmaceutically manufactured speed is a much safer drug than crystal meth even if the underlying active ingredient is effectively the same.
  - kristofferR 14y ago
    Dextromethamphetamine (Desoxyn). It's the exact same thing as illegal methamphetamine (minus any adulterants of course), but street meth can also be a racemic mixture.
  - jebeng 14y ago
    No, the statement is correct. They definitely do have prescription methamphetamine: http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm088582.pdf http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm088582.pdf
tomjen3 14y ago
There is an interesting docu-drama-reality thing called 1900 house about a family who gets to live and work in a recreated victorian house, exactly like they would have lived in 1900. When one of them gets a cold, they have to give up -- all the home-remidies would have been super-effective, but they are all based on heroin/cocain/opiom.

You'll have an aneurysm when you read about how heroin used to be sold in pharmacies. The drug war is a very recent phenomenon with a lot of dirty politics driving it.

Avshalom 14y ago

heroin is in fact a genericized trademark.

jrogers65 14y ago
Did not know this. Apparently Bayer lost the trademark after WW1.

bjhoops1 14y ago

That's crazy! Maybe the most ridiculous drug-related story of all has to be the Opium Wars the British fought in China so they could continue to sell opium to the Chinese masses. True story. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Opium_War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Opium_War (Ever see the portrayal of Marijuana's illegalization at the beginning of Pineapple Express?)

chimeracoder 14y ago
Not as crazy as the drama currently unfolding in Afghanistan with the opium trade (spoiler: the US has an incentive to condone growth of opiates, since it reduces local economic dependence on terrorist forces like the Taliban). It's almost fun to watch a government battling two bogeymen against each other, like a child playing with toy action figures.

kristofferR 14y ago

Yeah. Meth is actually still sold in pharmacies for ADHD and obesity in the US.

derrida 14y ago
Do you mean Ritalin (Methylphenidate) or Dextroamphetamine? (Both prescribed for ADHD). Either way, that statement is not strictly correct. Dextroamphetamine does get metabolised into Methamphetamine, but it isn't Methamphetamine when it is sold & Methylphenidate is something different.
- philwelch 14y ago
  Plus, pharmaceutically manufactured speed is a much safer drug than crystal meth even if the underlying active ingredient is effectively the same.
- kristofferR 14y ago
  Dextromethamphetamine (Desoxyn). It's the exact same thing as illegal methamphetamine (minus any adulterants of course), but street meth can also be a racemic mixture.
- jebeng 14y ago
  No, the statement is correct. They definitely do have prescription methamphetamine: http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm088582.pdf http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm088582.pdf

tomjen3 14y ago

There is an interesting docu-drama-reality thing called 1900 house about a family who gets to live and work in a recreated victorian house, exactly like they would have lived in 1900. When one of them gets a cold, they have to give up -- all the home-remidies would have been super-effective, but they are all based on heroin/cocain/opiom.