Synthetics: Heroin, Cocaine and Television Summary and Analysis

Morphine was isolated from the poppy plant in 1805, though its use was restricted and sporadic until the middle of the century, when the hypodermic syringe was invented. These two inventions were coupled to treat wounded soldiers in the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War to the degree that morphine addiction was known as "the soldier's disease."

Morphine was the first "hard drug," or highly addictive injectable narcotic. Heroin, which was invented as a cure for morphine addiction, proved to be more addictive than morphine while also becoming named the most depraved of drugs, despite alcohol causing ten times more death. McKenna theorizes this happens for two reasons. One, the addictive property of any drug can cause the user to act out in order to get their fix, but heroin addicts cannot simply...