Drug trafficking

The Great Binge: Heroin, Cocaine and Opium Over the Counter

It’s difficult to imagine now, but from 1898 to 1910 heroin was marketed as a cough syrup and treatment for migraines. In 1886, John Pemberton included cocaine as the main ingredient of his new soft drink, Coca Cola. In 1910, the French were consuming over 36 million litres of absinthe a year, the potent alcoholic drink even used as treatment for soldiers suffering from Malaria.

The period from 1870 to 1914 is referred to by some historians as the Great Binge. It was a time when stunning advances were made in pharmaceuticals and chemistry. Numerous drugs were developed, widely sold and consumed with little regulation or prohibition.

During the Great Binge, substances that are now some of the most vilified could be found advertised in newspapers and magazines, at times even marketed for children. It’s a bizarre fact which shows the drastic shifts that have occurred in our understanding of narcotics and intoxicating substances.