Today’s major drugs of abuse and alcohol have a vast history.
They have been used for thousands of years for different
purposes mainly in medicine. Alcoholic beverages have been
fermented from different kinds of plants and fruits earlier.
Some references to the use of alcohol in medication can be found
in ancient Sumerian clay tablets. Alcohol use is said to be very
little before the arrival of whites in North America. During the
colonial times, alcoholic beverages were introduced in larger
quantities. The Sumerians cultivated the opium poppy, and named
it “hul gil” meant the plant of joy. It was used to relieve pain
and diarrhea as it has some medicinal properties. Opium was
detected among early Chinese immigrants in America and later
heroin too was introduced to urban minority groups. Marijuana is
said to have a history of more than 4000 years, which was first
found in China and India. Earlier marijuana was used as a fiber;
more than 10,000 years back in China, it was used to make
clothes. Prior to the US c