The Ironical History Of Substance Abuse - 1218 Words

The Ironical History of Substance Abuse in America The history of substance abuse is full of irony. The poppy, a beautiful flower, is the source of opium, a raw pain-killing substance regularly cultivated and harvested in the East, where it was widely used. Tragically, Europe and America imported the drug and adopted its unregulated use. Though legal, the opium dens of the early 19th century certainly oppressed the lives of the poor, taking what little money they had and offering a dangerous environment in which to dream drug induced dreams. But businessmen, aristocrats, authors, actors, and even notables of the Old West, such as Wild Bill Hickok and Kit Carson, indulged in this addictive recreation. It was no less destructive and addictive for them than it was for the poor, but wealthier people could extend the degenerative spiral. Sir Author Conan Doyle in his Sherlock Holmes story, â€Å"The Man with the Twisted Lip,† describes such places in Victorian England. Upper class women in America and England, however, typically avoided the opium dens and even public drinking. Instead, they privately indulged at home in a 10% opium/90% alcohol â€Å"medicine† called laudanum, frequently prescribed by physicians for â€Å"female problems.† It became a popular vice. Elizabeth Barrett Browning, for example, used it habitually for physical and psychological reasons. Historians, however, disagree over the role the drug played in her death. Refinements continued in the processing of opium.Show MoreRelatedMedicinal Marijuana is Bad Idea Essay4487 Words   |  18 Pagesis a psychoactive drug made from the dried leaves and flowering parts of the hemp plant. It is one of the most strictly classified illegal drugs in the United States. Under the 1970 Controlled Substances Act, marijuana is listed as a Schedule I substance, which defines it as having a high potential for abuse; and no currently accepted medical use.; Marijuana is therefore classified more severely than cocaine and morphine, which as Schedule II drugs are also banned for general use, but can be prescribedRead MoreThe Portrait of Medieval Social Classes as Presented in the General Prologue to Geoffrey Chaucer’s the Canterbury Tales4628 Words   |  19 Pagesrespect and honour. Chaucer does not use any irony or satire in the description of the Knight; the irony is reserved to those who fall short of the standard of perfection he sets. The function of the Knight was to fight; but throughout Christian history, and increasingly in the late fourteenth century, there was a profound unease at the thought of Christian fighting Christian. The wars that were held in the highest esteem were those fought in the cause of God, against the infidel. ‘The knight isRead MorePeculiarities of Euphemisms in English and Difficulties in Their Translation19488 Words   |  78 Pagesdo, I think, serve to show the dangers of obscurity. There are, of course, many uses of colorful which have no such [damning-with-faint-praise] implications - where, for example, that a thing should be full of colour is all we can ask where no ironical reserves and no disparagement can be intended (I. A. Richards, The Philosophy of Rhetoric). It is the rest of the poem that makes the connexion easy and obvious, which witnesses to a general truth. â€Å"That† should be â€Å"which†. But to what does â€Å"which†