Category: Drug history

The Rolling Stones' 1966 hit song, "Mother's Little Helper," brought widespread public attention to the phenomenon of suburban housewives relying on tranquilizers to cope with daily life. This song cemented the nickname "Mommy's Little Helper," but the reality is that the term referred to more than one popular prescription drug during the era.

By 1970, a federal ban on 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) created a market vacuum for recreational 'love drugs' that its chemical cousin, MDMA, would eventually help fill. The question, 'Which drug was known as the love drug in the 1970s?' is not a simple one, as multiple substances earned this title during the decade for different pharmacological effects.

Over 2 million people in the United States were projected to receive a new cancer diagnosis in 2025, with some potentially undergoing treatment with the potent chemotherapy drug known as the 'What is the Red Devil?'. However, this evocative nickname also has a completely different and historical context within pharmacology, referencing a type of red-colored barbiturate once popular on the illicit drug market. This dual identity can lead to confusion, underscoring the importance of understanding the specific context when encountering the term.

During the 1950s, the Milltown pill, also known by its generic name meprobamate, was marketed as a revolutionary tranquilizer and quickly became one of the first blockbuster psychotropic drugs in the United States. At the peak of its popularity, millions of prescriptions were written annually, signaling a new era in the medical treatment of anxiety.

First introduced by Smith, Kline & French in 1950, Dexamyl was a combination of a powerful stimulant and a sedative, a formula that defined a new era of psychopharmacology. Given its complex and controversial history, many today wonder, **what was dexamyl prescribed for** and why is it no longer available?.

In the 1990s, the street name 'yellow jackets' referred to two vastly different substances: the potent prescription barbiturate pentobarbital and the widely available herbal stimulant ephedra [1.2.1, 1.3.1]. What were yellow jacket pills in the 90s? The answer depends on context, covering both sedative abuse and the controversial dietary supplement market.