Illegal drug use is on the rise, and members of the counter culture consider the war on drugs to be a failure that is more than a century old. Even though law enforcement agencies around the world try to combat expanded use of mind-altering substances, one English museum has taken a decidedly different take on the issue
The Wellcome museum has opened up a museum to the use of hallucinogenic drugs and other mind-altering
substances throughout the ages. Visitors to the exhibit can see a 11th century manuscript on Poppy seeds, and a Victorian snuff set for opium or a different unspecified drug.
The new exhibit comes months after a Swiss paper looked at the benefits for LSD and magic mushrooms in the use of treatment of depression and chronic pain disorders. Elsewhere, scientists study methamphetamine for the treatment of post-traumatic stress and other anxiety-related disorders.
Voters in California also narrowly rejected a measure that would make marijuana usage legal for medicinal purposes earlier this week. The measure was considered in part because it could help the state get through a looming budget crisis. Federal law banning the use of cannabis for any reason would not have been changed.
The new exhibit, scheduled to open on November 11, is dedicated to the use of mind-altering drugs throughout the ages.
It informs visitors that cocaine, now a highly illegal substance was once used for medicinal purposes. It also states that alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco, the legal substances around most of the world today were not always held in such high regard.