“Then Jove’s daughter Helen bethought her of another matter. She drugged the wine with an herb that banishes all care, sorrow, and ill humor. Whoever drinks wine thus drugged cannot shed a single tear all the rest of the day.”
~ The Odyssey - Book IV (Samuel Butler Translation. p201)
Let’s have a discussion about book 4 of The Odyssey by Homer. Menelaus receives Telemachus and Pisistratus with a lot of hospitality. There is a scene where Helen wants the men to take rest and relax. “Then Jove’s daughter Helen bethought her of another matter. She drugged the wine with an herb that banishes all care, sorrow, and ill humor.”.
It was surprising to see that they had drugs back then. Herbs that could make someone forget themselves fully. How wonderful. Humans have probably experimented with psychedelic substances from a long time. They are said to be effective when someone is in pain. But they are also addictive. Hence at different points in time religions have come down hard on these substances and later governments too. If large sections of society gets addicted to drugs, it could mean ruin for the country. But even after centuries, the debate still rages on with people on both sides, one arguing for freedom of choice and another arguing for the societal good. I think they could be made available with prescriptions. Otherwise, there will always be drug cartels and underground economy of commerce for drugs.