Victorian Ecstacy

Thande

Donor
(No, this isn't a thread about 1890s Empire-wank ;) )

While researching gamma-butyrolactone for P, I found out that gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (NB, the two interconvert in the body) was first discovered and synthesised in the 1870s, but its effects on humans were not studied until the 1960s, as often happens.

What if some scientist at the time decides the molecule's effects on human biology are worth investigating then, and therefore Ecstacy's effects are learned of as early as the 1880s or 90s?

The drug has useful anaesthetic and antidepressant properties, though nowadays it has fallen out of favour from abuse and the fact that it has a narrow delivery window (i.e., finding a dosage between ineffectiveness and fatality). It's likely that the Victorians would use it initially as a painkiller for childbirth, as happened in the 1960s and 70s OTL, and so would inevitably discover its addictive properties. It was already an age of increasing recreational drug abuse, so what would the effect of adding this to the cocktail be? (Beyond Sherlock Holmes having something new to try ;) ).
 

Hendryk

Banned
So not only did the Victorians invent industrial-scale international drug smuggling, they also invented cocaine, heroin and ecstasy?

Funny how that gets overlooked by those who suggest we go back to "Victorian values"... ;)
 
So not only did the Victorians invent industrial-scale international drug smuggling, they also invented cocaine, heroin and ecstasy?

Funny how that gets overlooked by those who suggest we go back to "Victorian values"... ;)

Come on, Hendryk. You, of all people, should know who really invented all that stuff.
 

Thande

Donor
So not only did the Victorians invent industrial-scale international drug smuggling, they also invented cocaine, heroin and ecstasy?

Funny how that gets overlooked by those who suggest we go back to "Victorian values"...
Well the Puritans "invented" cannabis. Just because those activities existed doesn't mean society condoned them.
 
Well the Puritans "invented" cannabis. Just because those activities existed doesn't mean society condoned them.

Except that it did. This is one of my favourite questions from British History 101:

"In the last decade of the nineteenth century, opium dens proliferated in many British port cities. East Asian immigrants, transients, and Britons purchased and smoked opium there. Why did they appear first at that point in time?"

Amswer: prior to the late 1880s, opium was freely available through retail outlets.
 

Thande

Donor
Except that it did. This is one of my favourite questions from British History 101:

"In the last decade of the nineteenth century, opium dens proliferated in many British port cities. East Asian immigrants, transients, and Britons purchased and smoked opium there. Why did they appear first at that point in time?"

Amswer: prior to the late 1880s, opium was freely available through retail outlets.
You're absolutely right in this case, I was speaking more generally of Hendryk's swipe at 'Victorian values'.

Drugs though...aside from the Sherlock Holmes case, I recently learned that apparently during WW1 one could buy a 'hamper of syringes' to send to the boys at the front... :eek:
 

mojojojo

Gone Fishin'
You're absolutely right in this case, I was speaking more generally of Hendryk's swipe at 'Victorian values'.

Drugs though...aside from the Sherlock Holmes case, I recently learned that apparently during WW1 one could buy a 'hamper of syringes' to send to the boys at the front... :eek:
I know Cocaine and heroin were used for such trivial purposes as curing constipation and diarrhea.
My great grampa became a heroin addict in in WW1, never kicked the habit:(
 

MrP

Banned
You're absolutely right in this case, I was speaking more generally of Hendryk's swipe at 'Victorian values'.

Drugs though...aside from the Sherlock Holmes case, I recently learned that apparently during WW1 one could buy a 'hamper of syringes' to send to the boys at the front... :eek:

Was that on QI the other week?
 

Leo Caesius

Banned
Well the Puritans "invented" cannabis. Just because those activities existed doesn't mean society condoned them.
What do you mean they invented it (and why the scare quotes)? You mean they popularized its use in the Western world?

You probably know that it was used as a folk anaesthetic in the Middle East until quite recently. They called it benj in the Arab world, a word which actually comes from the Hindi bhang. Incidentally, according to Wikipedia most Indians prefer to take their bhang with a drink called Thandai (I had always heard this drink described as a bhang lassi, but if Wiki's right I guess I stand corrected - it's a Bhang Thandai).
 

MrP

Banned
What do you mean they invented it (and why the scare quotes)? You mean they popularized its use in the Western world?

You probably know that it was used as a folk anaesthetic in the Middle East until quite recently. They called it benj in the Arab world, a word which actually comes from the Hindi bhang. Incidentally, according to Wikipedia most Indians prefer to take their bhang with a drink called Thandai (I had always heard this drink described as a bhang lassi, but if Wiki's right I guess I stand corrected - it's a Bhang Thandai).

:D :D :D

Excellent exposition, Leo. :D
 

Hendryk

Banned
Well the Puritans "invented" cannabis.
I've read the Founding Fathers grew hemp on their estates, didn't know the Puritans knew of the stuff as well.

Just because those activities existed doesn't mean society condoned them.
Well, modern society doesn't condone drug abuse either, and the fact that it takes place regardless is seen by social conservatives as evidence of moral decay. What's sauce for the goose...

Besides, while I take your point about domestic drug consumption, foisting opium on those unruly Asiatics was condoned to the extent of going to war--twice--in order to do it without pesky obstacles such as Chinese authorities prohibiting it.

Thandai... and Thande?!? Is this coincidential?!! :D
We're beginning to suspect Thande's passion for chemistry may not be entirely coincidental... ;)
 
Top