Drugs & Poisons Introduction i. NTRODUCTION VERY BRIEF RETROSPECTIVE Drugs, especially poisons, have been around as long as animals have sought relief from physical and mental pain. In fact, even procaryotic bacterial plasmids hold genetic codes for protective toxins. Monkeys have been seen foraging for specific plants to rid themselves of parasites. Elephants will eat fermented fruit and suffer the consequences. Primitive humans observed animals in their consumption of native materials and experimented themselves. Ronald Siegel in his book Intoxication (E.P. Dutton, 1989) goes so far as to postulate that the desire to achieve an altered state of consciousness is a drive we share with the lower animals. Originally steeped in magic, the human use of drugs is as old as recorded history. Egyptian medical records written on papyrus around 1500 B.C. (the Ebers Papyrus) included over 700 recipes for the therapeutic and toxic uses of such natural materials as opium, digitalis(from foxglove), heavy metals (such as lead and silver, not music), and atropine. Some of these prescriptions were effective, many were not. The ancient Romans, Greeks and Chinese used many types of drugs, herbs and drug formulations as well as poisons. Among some interesting insights of drug history, it has been proposed that the trance-induced divining abilities of the priestesses at the Oracle of Delphi may have been due to ethylene (ethene) intoxication. Who does not know the fate of Socrates? Or the murder of the Roman Emperor Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar Drusus (known simply as Claudius as in the book and TV series "I, Claudius") by his wife (and niece) Agrippina who fed him poison mushrooms. IDrugs & Poisons Introduction ii. The Greek physician Galen (120-100 A.D.) made fashionable prescriptions that were a combination of ingredients (does this sound familiar?). He concocted extracts that came to be called "galenicals". These mixtures represent some of the first recorded incidences of specific polypharmacy. The theories and experimentation of Galen influenced therapeutics for 1500 years. An infamous classic poisoner was King Mithridates VI of Pontus(114-63 BCE). He experimented with the effects of poisons on prisoners as well as his mother. This ruler was so afraid of being poisoned (an alternative to despotic rule) that he ingested a mixture of 10-20 components as a prophylactic (preventative) measure. The potion worked so well that when his life was threatened by invaders and he tried to kill himself by poisoning, the attempts failed. He eventually had to use a less sophisticated means of suicide. The Middle Ages (400-1500 A.D.) were a time of important Arabic and Jewish contributions to the pharmacopeia. The alchemical advances of the Middle East were passed on during the Arabic invasions of Europe in that time. It should be kept in mind that the Far East also had its own systems of medicine and pharmacy. Acupuncture and herbalism are still actively practiced and are under formal investigation in the United States to determine the underlying scientific principles and efficacy. The early Renaissance period heralded the beginnings of formal therapeutics in the work of Paracelsus (a pseudonym for Phillipus Aureolus Theophrastis Bombastus von Hoenheim) (1493-1541). A reprobate by reputation, the Swiss physician is considered to be the Grandfather of Pharmacology. He formalized the concept of a toxicon as a distinct chemical entity whose properties, therapeutic and toxic, were dose-dependent and could be determined by scientific experimentation. Paraphrasing the conclusions of Paracelsus – “It's the dose that makes the poison.” This period of time included the sophistication of poisoning in the infamous activities of the Borgia family. http://www.wisdomworld.org/setting/paracelsusone.html) http://www.asmalldoseof.org/historyoftox/antiquity.htox.php8Drugs & Poisons Introduction iii. The advancement of medicine and chemistry were complemented by pharmacology during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The modern age of pharmacology might be marked by the research of Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915), the Father of Chemotherapy. Winner of the 1908 Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology for his pioneering work in immunology, Ehrlich developed the concept of drugs which were tissue and cell specific - referred to as "magic bullets". Although no magic bullets existed in Ehrlich's day, the concept guides drug research to this day. And what of the current primitive cultures of the earth, those of the Amazon jungle and the wilds of New Guinea? There exists a vast wealth of untapped information that only the shamans, curanderos, and medicine men and women are aware. Native American nations are credited with using intravenous injection long before its formalized introduction around the time of the Civil War. How much of this vast resource is being destroyed by the deforestation in the Amazon jungle? In one estimate, the pharmaceutical knowledge equivalent of the Library at Alexandria is destroyed every day by deforestation. In modern times we still turn to the environment for therapeutic help. Evidence of the importance of, as yet, unanticipated information from naturally occurring materials, the U.S. Department of Agriculture in late 1991 granted Bristol-Myers Squibb Company the authority to harvest the bark of Pacific yew trees in federal forests for the chemical taxol, a potential anticancer drug. Fortunately other natural and synthetic precursors were developed so that the natural sources would not be depleted. These are now invaluable chemotherapeutic agents. Our recent national tragedies and warfare in the Middle East have reminded us of the natural toxins which can be harnassed for terror. Anthrax spores live in the soil and can be converted to an airborne menace. Yersinia pestis and smallpox might rise again to decimate populations. Our mythology and fantasy are filled with magic elixirs, amulets with special powers as well as destructive forces. Superman’s weakness to kryptonite is legendary to American children. The contamination at Love Canal(http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/lovecanal/01.htm) in Niagara Falls, NY brought forth the Toxic Avenger. The Hulk is a victim to his stress hormones. And those lovable Smurfs! What is the nature of the spotted mushroom used as an umbrella over their heads? This book will show you just a