As already seen, attitudes were quite different in the past to substances that are today seen as dangerous and are prohibited or controlled. More examples:
Morphine:
The morphine alkaloid was first extracted from the poppy plant in 1804. Morphine was first marketed to the general public in 1817 as an analgesic and also as a treatment for opium and alcohol addiction. It was later found that morphine was actually more addictive than either alcohol or opium. Morphine was the most commonly abused narcotic analgesic in the world until heroin was synthesized and came into use.
(Click on pictures to enlarge).
Ayer's Cherry Pectoral
This cure for colds, coughs and "all diseases of the throat and lungs" contained either morphine or heroin.
