Category:
Drugs
Drugs
Caffeinism
March 1985: Sgt. Joseph Mitlof of the NYPD realized that the 30 cups of coffee a day he was drinking might have been contributing to his anxiety problems. In fact, he was suffering from "caffeinism."
Tallahassee Democrat - Mar 20, 1985
I had never heard of such a thing as "caffeinism," but it turns out the term is over 100 years old. A 1979 article in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis offered the following definition:
Caffeinism describes a set of behavioral and physiological symptoms caused by the excessive consumption of caffeine-containing substances. The symptoms include nervous irritability, tremulousness, occasional muscle twitchings, insomnia, sensory disturbances, tachypnea (an abnormally rapid rate of breathing), palpitations, flushing, arrhythmias (an alteration or abnormality of normal cardiac rhythm), diureses, and gastrointestinal disturbances. Individuals suffering from caffeinism are sometimes misdiagnosed as anxiety neurotics because of the similarity of the symptoms. The deleterious effects of caffeine on humans also may include increasing the possibility of coronary heart disease in susceptible persons, promoting the progress of atherosclerosis and affecting chromosomal structure or action.
Burlington Daily Times - Mar 5, 1968
I only drink one cup of coffee a day, first thing in the morning. I think I'm good.
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jun 19, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Drugs, Health
Drug-Carrying Pigeons
Same method, 95 years apart.
The Pittsburgh Press - Mar 8, 1922
Pigeon caught with backpack of drugs
BBC News - May 25, 2017
Posted By: Alex - Fri May 26, 2017 -
Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Drugs
Runaway Groom
Original article here.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Apr 01, 2017 -
Comments (0)
Category: Drugs, Marriage, 1950s, Brain Damage
Reverse Tolerance
I had never heard of "reverse tolerance" before, but apparently it's a real thing. It describes a condition in which some habitual users of a drug will, over time, require less of the drug (instead of more) to achieve the same effect. It's most often discussed with reference to marijuana, but sometimes alcohol also.One theory is that marijuana accumulates in the body for a long time and that's what produces the effect -- i.e. you think you may be having just a little, but you've already got a lot in you. Another theory is that it's just a psychological illusion. As users become more familiar with how to smoke it, they do so more efficiently and learn to identify the effects earlier. Therefore, they think they need less to achieve the same effect.
When people develop a reverse tolerance to alchol, it's usually because of liver damage. They lose the ability to break down alcohol, so a little bit produces a big effect.
Minneapolis Star Tribune - Dec 18, 1970
St. Cloud Times - Feb 17, 1973
Posted By: Alex - Wed Mar 22, 2017 -
Comments (0)
Category: Drugs
Timothy Leary: While Birds Sing
Album info and track listing.
Let me know when you bail!
Posted By: Paul - Thu Mar 09, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: Drugs, Psychedelic, Music, Surrealism, 1960s, 1970s, 1990s
Hallucinogenic Fish
Sarpa salpa (above) is a type of sea bream found in the Mediterranean as well as in temperate areas of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It has one unusual quality. Eating it can cause hallucinations. For this reason, it's sometimes called the "dreamfish."
People have known about this for a long time. Apparently Sarpa salpa was occasionally eaten for recreational purposes during the Roman Empire.
A 2006 article in the journal Clinical Toxicology describes some medical case reports involving dreamfish consumption. For instance, in 1994 a 40-year-old man on vacation in the French Riviera ate some, and the next day the hallucinations began:
he began to experience blurring of vision and hallucinations involving aggressive and screaming animals. Agitation and disorientation led him to seek medical assistance (he was not able to drive anymore as he was seeing giant arthropods around his car). Physical examination upon arrival at the hospital emergency room demonstrated no notable abnormalities: no fever, no sign of focalization or sensory-motor deficit, and normal hemodynamic status except for sinusal tachycardia linked directly to the mental disturbances. During hospitalization, the patient recovered rapidly with complete resolution of symptoms within 36 h post ingestion. He was unable to recall the hallucinatory period.
Similarly, in 2002 a 90-year-old retiree ate some sea bream, again in the French Riviera, and experienced hallucinations involving "human screams and bird squealing."
A case described on Wikipedia seems to have been far more pleasurable. In 1960, National Geographic photographer Joe Roberts purposefully ate some broiled dreamfish: "he experienced intense hallucinations with a science-fiction theme that included futuristic vehicles, images of space exploration, and monuments marking humanity's first trips into space."
The authors of the Clinical Toxicology article note that cases of hallucinogenic fish poisoning (ichthyoallyeinotoxism) are often confused with ciguatera poisoning — the latter caused by fish flesh contaminated by "various toxins produced by the benthic dinoflagellate Gambierdiscus toxicus."
Ciguatera can also cause hallucinations. However, it may also kill you, whereas you should recover from the dreamfish hallucinations within 36 hours.
(Thanks to hotsauce269 for letting us know about the dreamfish.)
Posted By: Alex - Fri Dec 02, 2016 -
Comments (4)
Category: Drugs, Fish
LSD for Housewives
Posted By: Paul - Sat Oct 01, 2016 -
Comments (5)
Category: Drugs, Psychedelic, Government, Science, Experiments, 1950s
Follies of the Madmen #292
Full story here.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Sep 07, 2016 -
Comments (1)
Category: Drugs, Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, Nineteenth Century, Graphics
Zateeva Smokes
Florida Today - Apr 20, 1974
In 1974, a cigarette named Zateeva Smokes began to be sold in America. It was advertised on its label as having the aroma and taste of marijuana, but it contained no marijuana and produced no high whatsoever. Therefore, it was entirely legal. The name was a play on the Latin name for marijuana, Cannabis sativa. From an article in Florida Today (Apr 20, 1974):
The pack of Zateeva says it's "An exclusive smoke that captures the heady flavor and grass-like aroma of Cannabis Sativa. All natural ingredients, non-psychoactive, no tobacco or nicotine."
The pack says Zateeva's sole distributor is the House of Imagery Inc. in Montclair, N.J., but the phone company has no listing for that firm. Officials say no cigaret manufacturing firm exists in that town.
The pack says Zateeva's sole distributor is the House of Imagery Inc. in Montclair, N.J., but the phone company has no listing for that firm. Officials say no cigaret manufacturing firm exists in that town.
Unlike Bravo Smokes (the lettuce cigarette) that I posted about yesterday, Zateeva Smokes were not intended as a harmless substitute to help smokers quit. Instead, their primary purpose seems to have been to prank cops. They allowed pot enthusiasts to stand on street corners, smoking away, and if challenged by a cop, they would inform the officer that they weren't doing anything illegal. They were simply smoking a Zateeva.
So they were essentially a gimmick, and it doesn't seem like they ever gained much popularity. The sole reference to these Zateeva Smokes that I've been able to find is the 1974 Florida Today article. And I'm not sure if it's significant that the article itself ran on April 20 (4-20). Probably just a coincidence.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Alex - Tue Sep 06, 2016 -
Comments (4)
Category: Drugs, Smoking and Tobacco, 1970s
Follies of the Madmen #286
Lots of goofy stuff here.
First commercial: who's the publisher for that special Mom propaganda book?
Second and third commercials: love that trippy 2001: A Space Odyssey sequence as we fly thru the aspirin particles.
Fourth commercial: once upon a time, hairy chests were okay.
Fifth commercial: this woman has ingested so much iron that her bare feet are comfortable on metal stirrups.
Sixth and seventh commercials: life in a circus-acrobat household.
Eighth commercial: multivitamins promote blue balls.
Ninth commercial: children are iron-vampires.
Tenth and eleventh commercials: psychedelic scrumpcheroo!
Twelfth commercial: hey, a rerun! Or is this a flashback from dropping too many Chocks?
Thirteenth and fourteenth commercials: Charley Chocks, pusherman.
Fifteenth commercial: Chocks and chopsticks!
Sixteenth commercial: And you thought the Archies were too fake!
Seventeenth commercial: interplanetary Chocks colonialism!
Posted By: Paul - Sat Jun 18, 2016 -
Comments (2)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Drugs, Psychedelic, Children, Elderly, 1960s, 1970s
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |