Meanwhile, researchers continued to investigate the new drug’s potential as a topical anesthetic. Doctors performing delicate operations on eyes discovered that cocaine numbed tissues, allowing them to perform surgery with only minor discomfort to the conscious patient, who could continue to move the eye as directed. The use of cocaine soon spread to [...]

The AMA’s role in narcotic legislation reflected its stage of institutional development. By 1913 the American Medical Association, from a relatively small group centered mostly in the eastern states, was well on its way to consolidation of American medical practitioners. Like the American Pharmaceutical Association, it represented a group desire to strengthen the education and [...]

The presidency of Woodrow Wilson began in March 1913, with Democrats now in control of both Houses. Initially Wright was delighted with this change. Wilson and Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan supported strict regulation of narcotics and seemed to have nothing but admiration for America’s initiative in international control. Wright gave a glowing report [...]

Passage of the Harrison Act came after consultation with the trade and professional interests concerned, from the obligation of America to other nations, and with the support of reform groups, but it was not a question of primary national interest. Although drugs later became a great popular issue, the passage of the Harrison Act in [...]

The persistent and widespread problem of methamphetamine misuse is shaped not only by the biology of addiction, but by historical and cultural contexts. Methamphetamine is a methylated derivative of amphetamine, which was first synthesized in 1887, by a German chemist. It was first synthesized from ephedrine in 1893, [...]

Chinese in the United States received some of their worst treatment during America’s period of expansion in 1904 in the Far East. Tension between China and the United States reached a climax over the determination of Congress to exclude Chinese laborers. Brutality in the United States against Chinese travelers and immigrants of [...]

The December sessions heard arguments in support of strict control of habit-forming drugs, and several members of the drug trades favorably inclined toward the Foster bill appeared at the hearings. After the Christmas recess the opposition was heard. A week before hearings were resumed, Wright came to New York to conciliate doubtful medical and pharmaceutical [...]

Congress had failed Wright, and now prospects for the great international conference were filled with uncertainty. Delay after delay marked planning for its opening session. Wright and some of the State Department staff began to suspect a conspiracy against the American crusade. He was tempted to push a little harder, but from the American Embassy [...]

Before 1800, opium was available in America in its crude form as an ingredient of multidrug prescriptions, or in such extracts as laudanum, containing alcohol, or “black drop,” containing no alcohol. Valued for its calming and soporific effects, opium was also a specific against symptoms of gastrointestinal illnesses such as cholera, food [...]

State laws designed to curb the abuse of morphine and cocaine came mostly in the last decade of the nineteenth century. The realization of “abuse” and its seriousness gradually undermined confidence in simple regulatory laws and led to a determination that decisive action must be taken. Addiction became a challenge to medical and legal institutions. [...]