Historically speaking, the idea of addiction as a brain disease is a very new one. People once saw addiction as a personality flaw and a sign of weakness. This stigma still persists in society today and is a major challenge for addicts and the people who treat them.
Our attitudes about drug use in society are also continually evolving. In the not-so-distant past, drugs now considered dangerous, like cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine, were prescribed for everything from sleeplessness in children to weight loss.
Coca Cola had Cocaine it as seen by these ads from 1902.
Smoking was cool and what better brand to smoke than the brand your doctor used!
During the 1930's there was a surge of anti drug movies that were pretty funny! Looks like they were made by anti-methadone fanatics!
Until its prohibition in 1937, extract of cannabis (marijuana) was one of the top three most prescribed medicines in the US
Heroin use was portrayed in this Otto Preminger film called The Man With the Golden Arm. The movie did a good job of portraying the pain of withdrawal but I bet Sinatra wishes he had known about MMT! I wonder if they ever did "Golden Arm II ...The Relapse"? He relapses once in the movie after coming out of an inpatient detox at a plush hospital so a sequel would be his third attempt...yep time for MMT Frank.
