Morphine, in honor of the god ± Morpheu, was isolated from opium by the German Fiedrich Wilhelm Sertã1/4ner in the early nineteenth century and replaced opium (with the elbow) in medical treatments15©, especially after©the introduction of hypodermic©injection as a therapeutic©procedure in 185516. Later, in 1874, the first semi-synthetic©opiate was developed, diacetylmorphine, also©known as heroin. A few ± years later, it was marketed by Bayer as a cough suppressant and as a substitute for opium and morphine in withdrawal treatments. Heroin has achieved great©commercial success on all continents, due to its high anti-inflammatory and stimulating effect. It was not until many years later©that it ceased to be ±marketed for this purpose.17 Heroin began to become popular as a recreational drug first in the United States and England, and then© almost everywhere in the world, generating waves of heroin addicts that resulted in the deaths of at least one generation of injectable heroin addicts (junkies). After©the 70s, it became a symbol par excellence of the harmful effects of drugs18. Since its illegality in the mid-twentieth century, some countries, notably the United States and, more recently, Mexico and the Philippines, have launched the “war on drugs” to combat drug trafficking and organized crime in the wake of drug prohibition. [23] Drug prohibition criteria are not correlated with their harmful potential[24] and are considered arbitrary by some scientists. [25] Drug use, although for a mystical-religious or medical©purpose in its early days, has always been observed as a phenomenon that could become problematic if the substance is used for other purposes or inappropriately. In Egypt, a papyrus dating back to 2000 BC was found. J.-C.
who said: “I, your superior, forbid you to go to taverns. You will be humiliated like beasts. In another papyrus, a father warns his son: “I am told that you leave the office, that you go from alley to alley. Beer is the curse of your soul.51 Drug addiction can be of two types: although they are the two substances that cause the most deaths in modern societies, alcohol and tobacco are legal because of their volume of consumption and their consumption is socially accepted and regulated by the public administration. [28] Each country provides for exceptions to this rule. For example, it is common in the West for the consumption and trade of alcohol, tobacco and caffeinated stimulants outside of medicine to be legal. In other countries, such as the Netherlands, the recreational use of marijuana, hemp derivatives and, before that, psychotropic mushrooms, is tolerated. [ref. needed] In the United States, the states of Colorado and Washington began legal sales of hemp derivatives in 2014, and in Uruguay, legalization was approved, effective July 2017. There is evidence that even before the formation of the first civilizations, humans knew about and consumed certain plants with psychoactive properties, such as opium extracted from the opium poppy. In all civilizations, from Assyria to the present day, man has consumed all kinds of drugs for various reasons, religious, ritual, medicinal, habits or customs, for entertainment, for hedonism, etc. Since then, fermented beverages have been consumed throughout history and have become a major colonial trade.
In the Egyptian case, for example, the most common drugs were opium and a type of beer, the consumption of which was taxed. Alcohol was undoubtedly the drug par excellence of the peoples of the Mediterranean and the West. Its effects were used by the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Hebrews as a liturgical link, where the subsequent syncretism between Jews and Christians would elevate fermented grape juice to the category of vehicle of the incarnation of divinity. If alcohol was the historical drug of the West, from Turkey to India, via the Iranian plateau, the predominance is occupied by cannabis derivatives and poppy seeds. 36 CORTES BLANCO, Manuel, Tabac: de la panacea à l`epidemic en cinq siècles d`histoire, Revista Proyecto hombre, n° 43, Madrid, 2002, p. 20 (16-21). It does not appear that this link between drug history and Homo sapiens will diminish in the future. Legal notices such as tobacco and alcohol are consumed daily worldwide. But also©the illegals.
In 2005, the United Nations estimated the size of the drug trafficking market ± at $321 billion, an illicit activity that accounts for 1% of the total world trade at $321 billion. Cocaine, heroin and LSD are also©commonly used by millions of people. In Western culture, drugs are considered a taboo subject,[27] but only since the mid-twentieth century, when the first laws against various drugs were enacted, although some American countries and states have promoted some openness and greater tolerance since the beginning of the twenty-first century. [27] An example of prohibitionism is the notorious Prohibition Act, which banned alcohol in the United States. The experiment of prohibition failed and was at the origin of the power of some mafia groups that began to trade this drug, and when it was legalized, they moved on to others that were still banned. In most Western European countries, trade and production are still punishable, but in some cases their consumption or possession of small quantities has been decriminalized but continues to be punished. In this short summary ± the prevalence of drug use, it is noted that many substances are used and that the problems caused by mass use and abuse are also©significant. Drugs have been classified according to several categorization systems, with classifications currently predominant based on their pharmacological effects. Among the different types of classification that have been used over time, the following stand out: For magico-religious purposes, to escape reality, to cope with problems or for the inability to do so, for simple pleasure or for medicinal© purposes, man used plants and chemicals that are now included in the concept of drugs2. Many psychoactive substances have been used, but the most common are coffee, tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, cocaine and opiates. Alcohol is probably the oldest of all.
Historical research is not conclusive, but it shows that the fermentation of certain fruits or honey is the distant origin of the first psychoactive. A systematic review of two studies, both conducted in the United States, only one of which provided results related to drug use among 11- to 21-year-olds, showed that the intervention reduced cannabis use in the short term (four months), an effect that disappears in the long term. Due to the lack of evidence on the effectiveness of these therapies, it is impossible to draw rigorous conclusions and, therefore, these therapies should be used with caution when it comes to adolescent drug use. [55] Later, at the first assembly of the League of Nations, on February 19, 1925, the Second International Opium Convention was signed in Vienna. This agreement not only restricted the trade in opium, morphine and cocaine, but also©included cannabis as an illegal substance.60 Tobacco and alcohol were not covered by the ban. The subsequent Geneva Conventions (1931 and 1936) called for severe punishment of illicit drug traffickers. Coca is the queen of illicit drugs, with a market of $ 165,000 million, according to the United Nations, it is about half of the 321,000 million that represent the entire drug trade in the world. The main producers are Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. It`s impossible to talk about heroism and not think of Mark Renton and Spud running through Edinburgh to the rhythm of Iggy Pop`s Lust for Life.
This is the opening scene of Danny Boyle`s “Trainspotting” (1996), a story that describes the impact of heroism on British society in the late twentieth century. In other environments, however, it is argued that in some cases the alleged damages have been greatly exaggerated, and in all cases it is the individual, not the state, that must regulate their behaviour. The two positions have traditionally been confronted in the debate over the legalization of drugs. [ref. needed] Despite some restrictive measures in some countries, its application has spread rapidly, particularly in Europe. Later©, governments changed their prohibitionist stance on control and fiscal measures.36 With the invention of the cigarette lathe in 1855, tobacco consumption increased alarmingly, and industrialization meant that tobacco companies had enormous commercial power, particularly in the United States, Europe, Turkey, and China.37 The many health problems caused by smoking are now fully aware, leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to define smoking as the most common preventable cause. premature death.