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HISTORICAL CANNABIS MEDICINES |
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ABOUT THOSE OTHER INGREDIENTS
Just what are ALL those other ingredients and shouldn’t we be a little weary of them? Aren’t some of them out and out dangerous? And if so, doesn’t that (in effect) make ALL of these shown Cannabis Cough Medicines -- QUACK MEDICINES?
The answers are, “YES,” we should be weary of anything we put into our bodies. That goes for cough medicines (both past and present). Many Cannabis cough medicines found in the late 19th, early 20th century, did indeed contain ingredients that we would be well advised to avoid if possible. BUT FOR THAT MATTER so do many of today’s cough medicines. Let us never forget that ingredients (commonly found) in today’s cough medicines like Codeine, Guaifenesin, etc., are nothing more than fancy words for OPIUM. Yet, there seems to be no shortage of them in our drugstore shelves today.
Maybe the best way of stating it, is by quoting a fictional character (a doctor) from the book, the “Count of Monte Cristo”. In which he states that -- ALL THINGS ARE POISONOUS, But if used wisely, under the care of a trained physician, they instead can have great medical properties. The same kind of goes there. Look, we live in the 21th Century yet we still rely on Opium in our cough syrups for good effect. And again, we live in the 21th Century. Now put yourself back in the 19th century (with an even more limited number of potential ingredients and you quickly begin to see --- NO, these were NOT QUACK medicines, but in effect that was the best they had back then.
And yes, some ingredients (in large doses) were dangerous, but here (like in all other things) one must balance the amount of potential harm verses the good done by such a medicine.
MAYBE IT WILL BE BEST TO LOOK DIRECTLY AT ONE SUCH MEDICINE:
Note, the authors makes no pretense to having any medical training, we have none. However, we believe that the following info is accurate.
Using the above shown product as an example; Note that the label states the following ingredients:
- Alcohol 4% - This was used mostly as a liquefied or mixing agent. And as 4% is about the same percentage as that found in beer, YES one can get drunk from drinking too much. Just ask anyone during the days of alcohol prohibition.
- Chloroform 3 Minims per Oz – A quick look at the wikipedia shows that it is still in medical use today, however it does have a rather unsavory reputation:
“Chloroform was once a widely used anesthetic. Its vapor depresses the central nervous system of a patient, allowing a doctor to perform various otherwise painful procedures. . . at the beginning of the 20th century; however, it was quickly abandoned in favor of ether upon discovery of its toxicity, especially its tendency to cause fatal cardiac arrhythmia. . . Use of chloroform as an incapacitating agent has become widely recognized, bordering on clichéd, due to the popularity of crime fiction authors having criminals use chloroform-soaked rags to render victims unconscious. However, it is nearly impossible to incapacitate someone using chloroform.”
So we must assume that it was there as a way of “calming down the patients central nervous system.” - Cannabis 6 grains per Oz – Here we assume that the reader is already well familiar with this particular medicine and thus no further mention is needed.
And elsewhere on the label is does state as follows: “This medicine acts as an expectorant and sedative loosening phlegm and soothing bronchial irritations when due to colds.” Which sounds like any present day cough syrup would be making. Were the Chloroform replaced by more Cannabis (which also acts as a sedative) and you will have the makings of a great (modern day) cough syrup. – Oh, yeah! And if the anti-Medical Cannabis laws were also relaxed, etc.
WARNING TO THE FOOLISH:
Look people, (especially you young ones), look let’s let some of the things of the past, STAY IN THE PAST. YES, Medical Cannabis is good stuff, and yes it should make its way BACK INTO COUGH SYRUPS. If anyone needs any proof of that just look at what cough manufacturers used to replace Cannabis right after the passage of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 --- C-O-D-E-I-N-E (which sounds a lot like Cocaine, but is actually made out of Opium). Yuck! And that stuff is still on the market (over the counter even) today. Humm! Makes one wonder how many kids started out on Cough syrup. But getting back to the point, let’s look at just one other cough medicine form the era. That of "Father Di ilesi's Cough Medicine," which lists the following ingredients
Opium .01,Whimsically speaking; one wonders why they didn’t throw Cocaine and Morphine in there to boot. Well, at least the Cannabis would have helped, but the point being made is simple. JUST BECAUSE some past medicine made use of Cannabis, that DOES NOT NECESSARILY MAKE IT A GOOD ONE. Again, some of the formulas were good and would stand up today, BUT NOT ALL of them.
Heroin .004,
Alcohol 12 1/2%,
Chloroform .07"
Indian Cannabis .09,
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