To the question: If you believe that smoking tobacco is ok, then you are ok with injecting heroin into your vein (or snorting it) Mark replied: ... or use Laudanum (A tincture of opium, formerly used as a medicine) which was used by Christians (such as Elizabeth Barrett-Browning, Lewis Carroll and Samuel Taylor Coleridge) in past times and sold at the local Drug Store / Chemist. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Laudanum is an alcoholic tincture of opium. Laudanum is also known as tincture of opium, opium tincture, or tinctura opii. ... The term "Laudanum" should be applied only to a specific tincture of opium containing approximately 10 milligrams of morphine per milliliter. In the 19th century, laudanum was used in many patent medicines to "relieve pain... to produce sleep... to allay irritation... to check excessive secretions... to support the system... [and] as a sudorific". The limited pharmacopoeia of the day meant that opium derivatives were among the most efficacious of available treatments, so laudanum was widely prescribed for ailments from colds to meningitis to cardiac diseases, in both adults and children. Laudanum was used during the yellow fever epidemic. The Romantic and Victorian eras were marked by the widespread use of laudanum in Europe and the United States. Initially a working class drug, laudanum was cheaper than a bottle of gin or wine, because it was treated as a medication for legal purposes and not taxed as an alcoholic beverage. Literary figures of note who used laudanum include: a.. Lord Byron b.. Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, the early American Indian writer c.. Kate Chopin d.. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who was addicted for much of his adult life e.. Thomas de Quincey, who turned his addiction into literary success with the publication of Confessions of an English Opium Eater f.. Percy Bysshe Shelley, who suffered raging laudanum-induced hallucinations g.. John Keats h.. Lewis Carroll of which some inspiration of Alice in Wonderland could have come from i.. Iolo Morgannwg, the Welsh antiquarian j.. Charles Dickens k.. Antonin Artaud l.. Edgar Allan Poe m.. Charles Baudelaire[citation needed] n.. Branwell Brontė (brother of the Brontė sisters). o.. Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of President Abraham Lincoln, misprescribed for sleep problems, which caused anxiety and hallucinations. Upon increase of these hallucinations, more laudanum and chloral hydrate was administered, which increased the problem and led to her eventual commitment to an asylum. Political figures who used the drug included George Washington, William Wilberforce and Meriwether Lewis. Innumerable Victorian women were prescribed the drug for relief of menstrual cramps and vague aches and used it to achieve the pallid complexion associated with tuberculosis (frailty and paleness were particularly prized in females at the time)[citation needed]. Nurses also spoon-fed laudanum to infants. The Pre-Raphaelite muse Elizabeth Siddal died of a laudanum overdose.
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