How we got from 18th-century tinctures to the opioid crisis
Americans have always loved their medicines and sought them out actively to cure whatever ailed them. Their interest ranged all the way from “staying well” to “feeling better.” Productivity in this hard-charging, pull yourself up by the bootstraps society required activity, and it’s hard to be active when you’re sick.
In the 18th-century in Germany, England, France, and Switzerland, men practicing pharmacy saw their retail operations as the …