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Newsbrief:
Archeological
Evidence
of
Bronze
Age
Drug
Trade
8/9/02
Archeologists in the Middle
East announced that "a thriving Bronze Age drug trade supplied narcotics
to ancient cultures throughout the eastern Mediterranean as a balm for
the pain of childbirth and disease," the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
An analysis of ancient ceramic
pots shaped like opium poppy pods and bearing white markings symbolic of
the knife cuts made on the pods to allow the opium to ooze out -- some
dating as far back as 1,400 BC -- showed traces of opium, researchers told
a conference at Jerusalem's Hebrew University. Hundreds of the pots
have been found, and they are widely available in regional antiquities
shops.
The researchers added that
they believe opium and hashish were used during surgery and to treat other
pains and ailments. Citing ancient Egyptian medical writings, the
researchers said hashish was used to ease menstrual cramps and as an analgesic
during childbirth. Hashish also relaxes the user and increases the
force and frequency of contractions in women giving birth, medical researchers
found.
No word on whether Pharoah's
men were standing by to prosecute unwary healers on RICO violations.
Nor is there any solid evidence that the drugs were being used for partying.
"We know for sure these things were used for medical purposes," said Joe
Zias, an anthropologist at Hebrew University. "The question is whether
they were used for recreational purposes."
"These guys were selling
opium all over the Middle East," joked researcher Mark Spigelman.
"This is the original Medellin cartel, 3,500 years ago."
-- END --
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Issue #249, 8/9/02
Nevada Marijuana Initiative Endorsed by State's Largest Police Group | DC Board of Elections Rejects Medical Marijuana Petitions -- Admits One of Seven Valid Signatures Ignored but Refuses to Correct Error | Democratic Governor Candidate Calls for Repeal of NY Rockefeller Laws | Switzerland Defends Cannabis Decrim, Tells UN Narcocrats to Buzz Off | Which War Am I In? DEA Meth Offensive Continues as US Pilots in Afghanistan Gobble Speed | Libertarian Party Launches TV Ad Campaign Targeting Rep. Bob Barr on Medical Marijuana
| Drug Czar Picks Beer-Promoting NASCAR Hot Rodder to Carry Anti-Drug Message | School Anti-Drug Programs Get Failing Grade, Study Says | Drug Dog Terrorizes Native American Kindergartners in South Dakota, Lawsuit Filed | Newsbrief: South Dakota Lakota Successfully Harvest Hemp Crop | Newsbrief: Peru Backs Off on Coca Eradication, Again | Newsbrief: Radical Party Moscow Activists Go to Trial for Marijuana Legalization Rally -- Free Speech at Heart of Case | Newsbrief: Federal Judge Deems Utah Asset Forfeiture Initiative Constitutional | Newsbrief: Canadian NAFTA Suit Over Hemp Restrictions Enters Arbitration | Newsbrief: More than One Million in Drug Treatment in US, SAMHSA Says | Newsbrief: Budget Woes Close Detox, Treatment Facilities in NC, Iowa | Newsbrief: Stiffer Ecstasy Penalties Would Hit Penn State University | Newsbrief: Study Finds THC-like Chemicals Useful for Certain Disorders | Newsbrief: Archeological Evidence of Bronze Age Drug Trade | Web Scan: Narco News, Nature, Cato | Legislative Alerts: Rave Bill, Medical Marijuana, Higher Education Act Drug Provision | The Reformer's Calendar
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