ABSTRACT
In order to fully appreciate the law enforcement and regulatory view about prescribing controlled substances for pain, it is valuable to study the history of drug abuse and the resultant parallel development of governmental policy and control. This history is, in fact, the story of pharmaceuticals. Aldous Huxley, the famous British author, succinctly noted that “pharmacology antedated agriculture” (O’Brien & Cohen, 1984, p. IX). Drugs have been used and abused for centuries in medicinal, religious, and recreational settings. One of the earliest mentions of herbal medicines occurs in the Old Testament book The Song of Solomon. In Chapter 4, verses 13 and 14, Solomon sings of “spikenard” and “aloes”. The early Chippewa Native Americans used spikenard as a cough medicine, and aloe is still used today as a disinfectant and burn remedy.
