Drugs/medical issues in T2k (includes 'Drug use & availability in the Twilight War')

[headquarters]

.. as opposed to the new situation post TMD.

In my humble opinion I think drugs of all sorts would be used - both recreationally but also medically. Finding a batch of heroin in an evidence locker would be grand for a community - a potent painkiller available in quantity. The same goes for cocaine that can be used as an anasthetic.

Opium is an old remedy for various ailments - and was sold until well into the 1900 century in the US as Laudum etc . Heroine was also commercially available before being branded illegal.

Without a steady supply of the pharamaceuticals medicinal practitioners are used to in the modern world improvisation would be necessary. Saving lives and easing pains would go before old legislation.

Hemp has recreational uses - it is probably alot more easy to make than alcholic beverages so its popularity would increase I guess. The other uses for the plant would also make it more popular - if enough seed was available.

What I often think about is antibiotics - before penicillin doctors used among other things Sulfa. It was quite widespread in use in various forms. It also has a longer shelf life than modern antibiotics. Could this be mass produced in T2K ?

Are there estockpiles of it in RL ?

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Originally Posted by headquarters

... What I often think about is antibiotics - before penicillin doctors used among other things Sulfa. It was quite widespread in use in various forms. It also has a longer shelf life than modern antibiotics. Could this be mass produced in T2K ?

Are there estockpiles of it in RL ?

As I understand it, sulfa type drugs are all synthetically manufactured so that means once industry is gone, the stockpile you have is all you're ever going to have. There is also a low percentage of the population that have severe allergic reactions to sulfa antibiotics
However the mineral sulphur/sulfur in its elemental form can also be used as a mild anti-bacterial medicine and has been used as the base for creams to treat skin conditions.

Overall I think there would be a shift towards the natural sources of drugs because it would be by far the easiest way to acquire such medicines. When you consider that most of the modern drugs we use are synthetic forms of naturally occurring agents found in plants, animals and minerals, anybody who knows the "folk remedies" would probably be the best person to create new stocks of medicines.

For example, Atropa Belladonna AKA Deadly Nightshade is toxic as hell but when prepared properly, it has been used to treat headache, menstrual pain, some forms of stomach ulcers, motion sickness and low blood pressure. The modern medical industry says there is insufficient evidence to recommend the use of Deadly Nightshade for anything but the reality is we have extracted the useful parts of the plant and synthesized them for modern medicines and cosmetics. One example of this is Atropine.