Past and Current Drug Trends
Many past and current trends of the use and abuse of drugs in the United States have been associated with health and social trends that at times may have been considered culturally acceptable. Many trends have occurred since early times. The nineteenth century introduced advancement in modern medicines making several medicinal drugs popular, but by the end of the century was being considered a complicated matter. The twentieth century showed great concern amongst the American people for substance abuse and trends of usage and abuse changed as quickly as the decades past by. The drug usage and abuse now is very regulated and campaigned against misuse of licit drugs and the abuse of illicit drugs.
Early times, sometimes going back hundreds or even thousands of years, was a time of curiosity and discovery. People found medicinal value in plants by eating them and by discovering the effects on animals after eating certain plants. The curiosities often made people sick or even die as they were learning the effects of these medicinal plants. Plants such as the willow bark were used to cure headaches; aspirin is now made from willow bark. The senna plant was discovered for its laxative properties. Morning glories, different types of mushrooms, and poppy plants were used for the hallucinogenic properties. Coca leaves were used for pain and is now known for the production of cocaine and marijuana was also widely used (Levinthal, 2012).
These discoveries lead to the knowledge for shamans to use and become leaders of their communities. Shamans would use trances and hallucinogenic medicines to heal people. After the rise of the Egyptian and Babylonian empires, the use of shamanism declined. The use of hallucinogenic medicines is thought to be more of a psychological rather than physiological effect on the users like a placebo effect.