Drugs were not illegal in the 1800’s, nor the early 1900’s.
Coca-Cola was laced with cocaine, and Thomas Edison was a devote of Coca-Cola.
If it was not illegal, why are we bitchin’ about the folks who earned a profit from it?
Do any of you own shares of alcohol stocks in your 401K’s or mutual funds?
I’m just saying lets be honest about ‘the war on drugs’ -it did not exist back then.
BTW - Ever READ any Sir Arthur Conan Doyal mysteries? Hint: The brainiac was an opium user...
They are almost impossible to find in antique stores any more, but it used to be fairly commonplace to find a set of containers for the 1900 kitchen, four containers, each one smaller than the last, marked Flour, Sugar, Salt, and Cocaine.
Cocaine was the go-to drug for such ailments as coughing, and IIRC Bayer invented heroin as a drug to replace cocaine as a cough medicine, thinking incorrectly that heroin was not addictive, unlike cocaine.
Remember the Socialist mantra "There Are No Honest Profits." No matter how someone gets rich, certain people will be right there to point out it was done unjustly - if only to his or her competitors. :)