“In teaching, I wanted to offer a general pharmacology course based on chemical principles, biochemical classification and mathematical modeling. In the event I achieved neither of my ambitions.“
— James W. Black

What I have loosely defined within this blog as “pharmacology” (which really should have been drugs ‘n everything that goes along with them) would be useless without the essential element of interest, what keeps people, such as myself, enthralled with this topic. That element is the human element. Not only what contortions a drug can perform on a human beings internal structure, but also he simple fact that people have the ability to create and use such drugs, and that some can be driven to the depths of addiction because of their own, internal or otherwise, strife.

No on can be sure when people first began using drugs, or necessarily if it was by accident (which most probably it was), or an intentional act based on observation. However, one thing is certain, and that is that drugs have evolved from the crude grime shot up or snorted among hippies and musicians, with little to no care for after effects, to a recognized problem (illegal substances), and a definitive and absolute science marked by precision, where one wrong step could destroy organs or cost a life (both).

How did people develop addictions?

How did we, as a human race, discover the medicines and substances to which people become addicted?

If people are aware of the risks then why do they continue on, abusing substances?

These questions can begin to open up what is the essence of this blog, a mish-mash of pharmacology and drug abuse, and why it matters.

To the question of causes of addiction. This raises two answers, on for the old drug culture, who had little care for what they placed in their bodies, and the modern drug culture, who know the risks and go for the thrill of it anyways. If you choose to believe Prof. Charles Whitebread, the first man to publish a full legal history of marijuana, then “almost all addiction at the turn of the century was accidental.” (By turn of the century, it means 1900’s). People were getting involved with products they weren’t aware contained addictive substances, such as morphine, as many popular pain remedies, tonics, and elixirs in the first half of the 1900’s were nearly 50% morphine. Nowadays, many people become addicted because of their conscious involvement with addictive substances, whether their involvement be because of peer pressure, inadequate personality comlex, or poor environment.