Gladstone's pick-me-up and other stories

摘要

Described as the plant of joy, it was the first recorded medicine. Regarded by many as the most useful remedy ever discovered, it is the only drug that has given rise to wars. Gladstone took it in bis coffee. DeQuincey made his fortune writing a book about the drug. When in the 1860s doctors wanted to confine the substance to medical usage, it was the opposition of pharmacists the kept it on free sale. Opium is and always has been the most controversial medicament. Ray Sturgess unravels some of the facts from the myths.