If any of you ever need to argue about alcohol/drug policy with your friends, here’s an interesting link that I found that could be used to give them some kind of reference:
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/history/drug_law_timeline.htm.
Interesting timeline. I noticed this:
The patent medicine industry started its rise. Because there were no restrictions on advertising, labeling, or contents of any products the patent medicine industry made up all sorts of concoctions including the opiates, cocaine, and other drugs, and sold them with the most extravagant advertising claims. This led to a rise in addiction.
Now, I am rather uninformed about the history of drug use, but this statement seems problematic, because during this time period we know that the availability of these drugs was on the increase. Unrestricted advertising doesn’t seem to be the only explanation for rising addiction.