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Drugs In The 1800s

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When understanding the drug problems we face today, we have to look at the history of how drugs became popular and what they do. Some historians would say this country was founded by tobacco, the first big cash crop the colonies produced. It was first used for chewing, pipe smoking and snuff. Cigarettes popularity started after World War II but eventually declined after showing the correlations between smoking and cancer. (A Brief History of Tobacco) Marijuana was also a cash crop starting in Jamestown but instead of using it for smoking it was used for making rope, clothing and sails. It began being used as a medical drug in the 1850’s and could be easily bought over-the-counter in pharmacies and general stores. The drug causes the release …show more content…

Brought over by chinese immigrants in the 1850’s, opium took off in the United States. Opiates are drugs used to reduce pain and were used in many different medications both prescription and over-the-counter. Morphine came about in 1803 original used for pain in civil war soldiers led to a wave of morphine addiction. Heroin was introduced in the 1900’s to help with morphine addiction. It became big in the 1930’s and 40’s due to jazz culture. Due to street heroin purity improving in the 1980’s heroin usage increased substantially in the 1990’s. (A Social History of America 's Most Popular …show more content…

They were given to soldiers in World War II to help them stay awake and fight longer then later given to them to help fight depression. Injection of amphetamines specifically meth started in the 1960’s before the smokeable form of meth, crystal meth, came about in the 1990’s and became huge.(A Social History of America 's Most Popular Drugs.) Meth leads to the release of norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin causing euphoria and excitement but also leaves the brain highly susceptible to addiction.(Top 10 Drugs and Their

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