A pizzeria in Germany was recently busted for selling more than just pizza. A major undercover operation revealed that customers who asked for secret item number 40 received a side of cocaine with their pizza. The investigation led to a major drug ring bust where several homes and properties were raided, which led to several arrests. This German pizzeria is just one of several restaurants that have been caught serving narcotics with their food. Here is a list of ten restaurants that were busted for selling drugs.

Related: 10 Times Potential Crime Evidence Was Found at a Thrift Store

10 Armadillo Grill (Raleigh, NC)

The Armadillo Grill in Raleigh, North Carolina, had their permit to serve alcohol suspended after a drug bust in 2023. The popular restaurant and nearby Botanical Lounge were both investigated for selling marijuana and cocaine out of their businesses, along with non-tax-paid alcoholic beverages. Five people were arrested in the bust that took place at both companies.

Armadillo Grill had initially agreed to stop serving alcohol for 64 days, but customers were shocked when they found the doors to the restaurant permanently closed. The business had served the area for more than 20 years and was a popular restaurant that served authentic Tex-Mex food. The Armadillo Grill claimed that this location no longer served their customer base.^[1]

9 Mexzzarella Pizzeria (Bronx, NY)

A pizzeria in the Bronx was caught selling narcotics along with their pizzas. In 2023, three people were charged with running a drug ring out of Mexzzarella Pizzeria when authorities seized over 100 pounds of cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl that was worth more than $4 million. Authorities found 42 kilos of cocaine, a kilo of heroin and fentanyl, and several other drugs. Vials of crack cocaine were stored near the pizza counter for convenient sales.

Most of the drugs were found stashed in the basement of the pizzeria, along with a kilo press and about $40,000 in cash. Authorities had been watching the trio for a while as they walked in and out carrying bags and backpacks from the restaurant that sits directly across the street from an elementary school. The three workers were charged with operating as a major trafficker and criminal possession of a controlled substance.^[2]

8 Mamma Ventura’s Restaurant (Gettysburg, PA)

Mamma Ventura’s Restaurant and Loung opened in 1977 in downtown Gettysburg and was started by Carmelo Fazzolari. He passed away in 2003, and his wife Jackie and daughter Cristina became co-runners of the popular restaurant. Cristina graduated from the Cordon Bleu School in Pittsburgh and was listed as a “celebrated chef” on the company’s website. Earlier this year, Cristina was caught selling more than just food.

She faced several charges for selling drugs behind the restaurant and was in possession of cocaine, fentanyl, and marijuana. Her husband was also charged with possession and intent to deliver, but he also faced additional charges of prohibited possession of a firearm and possession of drug paraphernalia. The couple were found to be selling drugs in the alleyway behind the restaurant, and they were even caught driving somewhere to deliver cocaine with their child in the backseat. The restaurant remains open.^[3]

7 Pollos Asados “El Gordo” (San Antonio, TX)

If you’ve watched Breaking Bad, then you are familiar with Gus Fring. He ran a drug-trafficking operation out of his Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant chain, but Jonathan Linares Lumbreras has been described as the real-life Fring. Lumbreras was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and possession with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine after being caught selling the drugs out of his San Antonio restaurant earlier this year.

Lumbreras’ Pollos Asados “El Gordo” restaurant was a popular place to eat on the West Side, and it was even featured on a local program that highlighted local restaurants. He had several drug mules that carried out his transactions and transported his drugs. He was also arrested in 2021 after being in possession of 25 kilos of cocaine, two silencers, 35 firearms, $265,000 in cash, and other items. He only received 20 months in prison for that charge, but he faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted.^[4]

6 McDonald’s (New York)

Several McDonald’s customers were saying “I’m Lovin’ It” after receiving drugs with their meal. Frank Guerrero was a night shift manager of a McDonald’s in the Bronx for eight years before being arrested for selling cocaine and crack cocaine. The authorities spent three months investigating Guerrero as part of their “Operation Off the Menu.”

The drive-thru at this McDonald’s location was open 24 hours, but the inside of the restaurant would close late at night. Guerrero would unlock the doors, though, to make his drug sales. He was caught hiding the cocaine inside a cookie bag and handing it to customers with two cheeseburgers, fries, and a soda. He sold cocaine to undercover officers eight times, including a time when he sold more than $6,000 worth of cocaine and stashed it in the soap dispenser to be picked up.^[5]

5 Happy Days Diner (Auburn, Maine)

Darren Douin, the 43-year-old owner of Happy Days Diner in Auburn, Maine, was arrested after having drugs and a gun on him when stopped by police. The traffic stop earlier this year was part of a long investigation into Douin for manufacturing and selling drugs out of his establishment. Authorities revealed that he may have been selling drugs out of the restaurant for nearly a decade.

Police searched Douin’s home and business, where they found a total of 70 grams of crack, 55 grams of cocaine, 2.2 grams of crystal meth, 112 ecstasy pills, 17 firearms, and $25,000 in drug proceeds. Sources told police that he was manufacturing crack cocaine in the restaurant during overnight hours. After several sources came forward in 2022, the local authorities started investigating Douin and found that he was selling drugs out of his home and restaurant.^[6]

4 PR House Restaurant (Orlando, FL)

Eighteen people who either owned or worked at PR House in Orlando were charged with operating a drug operation out of the business and selling cocaine and fentanyl. A multi-year investigation into the restaurant revealed that drug transactions have been going on for years, and the local authorities have been receiving tips about the restaurant’s drug activity for 15 years.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) began investigating the location while its predecessor was still in business but had made several arrests over the years for drug activity. The OCSO conducted an undercover operation that revealed that the PR House was selling cocaine to around 70 people each day. The owners of the business were looking to expand by using food trucks as new locations to sell narcotics.^[7]

3 El Coqui Restaurant (Troy, New York)

In 2023, 25 people were indicted on drug charges and faced 164 counts, including criminal possession of a controlled substance and felony criminal sale. These people were involved in a drug ring that used El Coqui, a Puerto Rican restaurant, to sell and store drugs. Authorities were able to seize more than three kilograms of cocaine, 40 grams of heroin laced with fentanyl, four handguns, and over $50,000 in cash.

The leader was 33-year-old Efrain Acevedo, who is considered a major cocaine distributor. Acevedo was selling narcotics to his customers out of the restaurant and then storing the cash and other drugs inside the restaurant. He previously pleaded guilty to drug trafficking in 2017 and was given a nine-and-a-half-year sentence, but he was released on parole in 2022. He now faces life in prison if he is found guilty of felony operating as a major trafficker.^[8]

2 Oishi Sushi & Japanese Steakhouse (St. Petersburg, FL)

After selling drugs to an undercover agent, Hai Thanh Bui was arrested for multiple felony charges in 2022. Bui was the owner of Oishi Sushi & Japanese Steakhouse in St. Pete, and investigators found 750 grams of cocaine, 985.5 grams of ecstasy, 65 grams of ketamine, and other drugs inside a safe at the restaurant. Bui was in possession of the key to the safe at the time of his arrest.

Authorities also found a digital scale and several small plastic bags in the restaurant, and they also located two rifles and five handguns in an RV that was on the property. He was also accused of selling stolen goods, including items that came from a nearby restaurant. He is being charged with 21 counts, and his trial is ongoing.^[9]

1 Saks Off Broadway (Bayonne, New Jersey)

Arthur Saks was an award-winning chef who appeared on the competitive cooking show Chopped in 2011, but in 2019, he was arrested and charged with selling drugs out of his Bayonne restaurant. Saks Off Broadway was Saks’s restaurant located on Broadway and East 15th Street, where gourmet sandwiches were served. After an investigation by local authorities, Saks was arrested and charged with heroin possession and distribution, two counts of unlawful possession of prohibited weapons, and other charges.

Detectives recovered 33 glassine bags of heroin, hypodermic syringes, a .38 caliber revolver, and several other drugs and weapons from the restaurant. Saks Off Broadway was closed by the city’s Environmental Health Specialist after unsanitary conditions were found by local authorities. The restaurant was then ordered to cease all operations, but it never reopened.^[10]

The world of medicine is constantly advancing, bringing new hope with each breakthrough. Over the next decade, a handful of medications are expected to stand out for their impact. These drugs are not just about scientific progress—they’re about changing lives and offering new solutions where there were none before.

Whether tackling chronic illnesses or introducing treatments for conditions once deemed untreatable, these medications are paving the way for a healthier future. They promise not just improved health outcomes but also a better quality of life for countless people around the globe.

In this list, we’ll explore ten amazing drugs that are set to become game-changers in their respective fields. These are the names you’ll hear more often as they continue to revolutionize healthcare.

Related: 10 Medicines That Work But We Don’t Know Why

10 Harvoni: Revolutionizing Hepatitis C Treatment

Imagine a world where hepatitis C is no longer a chronic, debilitating disease. Enter Harvoni, a breakthrough medication that combines ledipasvir and sofosbuvir. This dynamic duo works by blocking proteins the hepatitis C virus needs to grow. The result? An impressive cure rate of 94% to 99%, turning what was once a life-long battle into a manageable, short-term treatment.

For many patients, Harvoni means taking just one pill a day for two to six months. This simplicity is a game-changer, especially for those dealing with genotype 1, the most common strain in the U.S. Harvoni’s approval for use in children, adults, and even those with complicated cases involving HIV or liver transplants makes it a versatile tool in the fight against hepatitis C.

However, this groundbreaking treatment doesn’t come cheap, with a hefty price tag of around $1,100 per pill. Yet, for many, the chance to live free from hepatitis C is priceless, making Harvoni a true revolution in antiviral therapy.^[1]

9 Aimovig: A Breakthrough for Migraine Relief

For those battling migraines, the search for relief often feels endless. Aimovig offers a new approach. This FDA-approved drug belongs to a class known as CGRP monoclonal antibodies, which target calcitonin gene-related peptide, a protein linked to migraine pain. By blocking CGRP, Aimovig aims to prevent migraines before they start.

What makes Aimovig unique is its focus on migraine prevention, unlike older treatments originally designed for other conditions. Patients have reported significant reductions in migraine frequency, with some experiencing up to eight fewer migraine days per month.

This means a notable improvement in daily life for many chronic migraine sufferers. With its targeted mechanism, Aimovig stands out in the evolving field of migraine treatment, offering hope and a better quality of life to millions affected by this condition.^[2]

8 Evrysdi (Risdiplam): Transforming Spinal Muscular Atrophy Care

Evrysdi, or risdiplam, offers new hope for those with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Developed by Genentech, this oral medication boosts the production of the SMN protein, which is essential for motor neuron survival. Unlike earlier treatments that require injections, Evrysdi can be taken at home, making it more convenient for patients of all ages.

Clinical trials, such as FIREFISH and SUNFISH, have shown promising results. In the FIREFISH study, 90% of infants treated with Evrysdi survived without permanent ventilation after 12 months. The SUNFISH trial also reported significant motor function improvements in older patients, showcasing Evrysdi’s effectiveness across different age groups.

With FDA approval, Evrysdi represents a significant step forward in genetic medicine. It highlights the move towards more accessible and effective treatments for rare genetic disorders, offering a better quality of life for SMA patients.^[3]

7 Hemgenix: A Breakthrough in Hemophilia B Treatment

Hemgenix, developed by CSL Behring, is revolutionizing Hemophilia B treatment. Approved by the FDA in 2022, this gene therapy delivers a functional copy of the F9 gene to liver cells, allowing patients to produce clotting factor IX. In clinical trials, Hemgenix increased factor IX levels and reduced bleeding episodes by 64%.

Patients treated with Hemgenix, like those in France, have reported fewer bleeding incidents and improved quality of life. This one-time infusion reduces the need for regular treatments, offering a significant shift in managing Hemophilia B.

Ongoing research aims to confirm Hemgenix’s long-term benefits and safety. This therapy holds promise for transforming care for Hemophilia B patients, potentially reducing complications and enhancing independence.^[4]

6 Dupixent (Dupilumab): A Potential Future Treatment for Keloids

Dupixent, a monoclonal antibody known as dupilumab, has demonstrated potential in preventing keloid formation and alleviating related symptoms. Keloid scars, resulting from abnormal healing processes, are often challenging to treat effectively. Traditional treatments like corticosteroid injections frequently offer limited relief. Recent case studies have shown that dupilumab can reduce inflammation and prevent new keloids in patients with recurrent skin injuries, suggesting its promise as a novel treatment approach.

In one notable case, a 23-year-old woman with chronic keloids on her shoulders and chest experienced significant improvements after starting dupilumab. Previous treatments had failed, but with dupilumab, her keloids stabilized, and symptoms like pain and itching diminished. Similarly, a 20-year-old woman with multiple keloids from acne reported fewer new keloids and reduced discomfort after initiating dupilumab therapy. These cases highlight dupilumab’s potential in keloid prevention and management.

Ongoing clinical trials are exploring dupilumab’s efficacy in treating keloids. While these initial findings are promising, more research is needed to establish dupilumab as a definitive treatment for keloids, offering hope for patients seeking relief from this challenging condition.^[5]

5 Trikafta: A New Dawn for Cystic Fibrosis

The introduction of Trikafta in 2019 marked a significant breakthrough for individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF), transforming lives previously constrained by the disease. Trikafta, a triple combination drug, targets the defective cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein, improving lung function by thinning and clearing mucus.

Patients often experience increased mucus clearance, making breathing easier and enhancing daily life activities. Although long-term studies are ongoing, initial results suggest that Trikafta can potentially extend life expectancy and significantly improve the quality of life for many CF patients.

Jenny Livingston’s story exemplifies Trikafta’s impact. Diagnosed with CF at birth, she endured frequent hospitalizations and declining health. However, after starting Trikafta, her condition stabilized, allowing her to participate in activities she once couldn’t. Now, Jenny plans for a future with her daughter, something previously unimaginable.

While Trikafta is not a cure and may not be effective for all CF patients, its ability to transform many patients’ lives is undeniable. It’s important to note that some patients may experience side effects. Ongoing research continues to explore Trikafta’s full potential, promising even greater improvements in CF treatment.^[6]

4 Lecanemab: A New Frontier in Alzheimer’s Treatment

Lecanemab, developed by Biogen and Eisai, represents a promising advance in Alzheimer’s disease treatment. This monoclonal antibody targets amyloid plaques in the brain, which are associated with cognitive decline. Initially granted accelerated approval in January 2023 based on its ability to reduce amyloid plaques, lecanemab received full FDA approval in July 2023 after further clinical data confirmed its clinical benefit. In trials, lecanemab has shown modest but significant effects in slowing the progression of cognitive decline, providing a new option for patients and their families.

By administering intravenously every two weeks, lecanemab offers a consistent approach to managing Alzheimer’s. Although not a cure, it helps delay the disease’s progression, allowing patients to maintain their independence longer. The Alzheimer’s community views lecanemab as a crucial step forward, with ongoing research aiming to further validate and expand its benefits.

Dr. Lawrence Honig, a neurologist at NewYork-Presbyterian, emphasizes that lecanemab is one of the first treatments to show measurable effects in slowing Alzheimer’s progression. As research continues, lecanemab could become a cornerstone in Alzheimer’s care, providing much-needed hope and improved outcomes for patients and their families.^[7]

3 Scemblix: A Game-Changer in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Treatment

Scemblix, developed by Novartis, has emerged as a significant advancement in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Approved by the FDA in 2021, this novel drug targets the BCR-ABL1 protein, a key driver of CML. Recent data from the Phase III ASC4FIRST study, presented at the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting and the European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress, demonstrated Scemblix’s superior efficacy compared to other tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in newly diagnosed CML patients.

Patients treated with Scemblix showed higher rates of major molecular response and lower discontinuation rates due to adverse effects compared to those on traditional TKIs. This makes Scemblix not only a more effective option but also a more tolerable one for many patients. With its ability to provide better outcomes and improved tolerability, Scemblix is setting a new standard in leukemia care, offering hope and a higher quality of life for those affected by CML.^[8]

2 Zolgensma: A Gene Therapy Medical Miracle for Spinal Muscular Atrophy

Zolgensma, a groundbreaking gene therapy developed by Novartis, has revolutionized the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a severe genetic disorder that affects muscle strength and movement. Approved by the FDA in 2019, Zolgensma works by delivering a functional copy of the SMN1 gene to replace the missing or defective gene in SMA patients. This one-time intravenous infusion is designed for children under the age of two and has shown remarkable efficacy in clinical trials, significantly improving motor functions and extending life expectancy.

The impact of Zolgensma on patients’ lives is profound. Children who received this therapy have achieved developmental milestones previously thought impossible for SMA patients, such as sitting up, crawling, and even walking. For instance, twins Kali and Kaiden, diagnosed with SMA Type 1, received Zolgensma at one month old and have since shown tremendous progress, defying the grim prognosis typically associated with the disease. Their story, along with others, underscores the transformative potential of gene therapy in treating genetic disorders.

Despite its high cost, Zolgensma offers hope and a better quality of life for families affected by SMA. As ongoing research continues to evaluate its long-term benefits and safety, Zolgensma stands as a testament to the advancements in genetic medicine, providing a new lease on life for many young patients.^[9]

1 Ketruda (Pembrolizumab): Extending Survival in Kidney Cancer Patients

Keytruda (Pembrolizumab) is making waves as an adjuvant therapy for kidney cancer, particularly clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Approved by the FDA in 2021, this immunotherapy works by targeting the PD-1 protein, enhancing the immune system’s ability to attack cancer cells. The KEYNOTE-564 trial revealed that patients treated with pembrolizumab post-surgery had a nearly 40% reduced risk of death compared to a placebo. Four years into treatment, 91% of patients on pembrolizumab were still alive, compared to 86% in the placebo group.

These results are groundbreaking, marking the first time an adjuvant therapy for kidney cancer has shown improved overall survival. Despite potential side effects like fatigue and rash, pembrolizumab offers new hope for patients at high risk of recurrence. Oncologists are optimistic about its potential to become a standard post-surgical treatment, significantly improving care and outcomes for early-stage kidney cancer patients. ^[10]

Every generation faces a new “zombie drug.” From the 18th-century English gin craze to the crack epidemic of the 1980s, addicts are frequently likened to the walking dead. This highly politically charged comparison results from overzealous law enforcement and sensationalistic media demonizing substance users. Often, there are political motives behind the designation. This rhetoric is confusing, as there truly are terrifying chemicals that can turn humans into puppets devoid of free will, and chemists produce new drugs every day with the potential to turn their users into “zombies.”

10 Coupe Poudre

In the early 1980s, ethnobotanist Wade Davis traveled to Haiti to find the secret behind coupe poudre—zombie powder. He interviewed Voodoo practitioners and collected samples from around the island. Analysis revealed that seven of the eight samples shared ingredients. These were cane toad poison, tree frog irritant secretions, and tetrodotoxin (puffer fish neurotoxin). Davis concluded that tetrodotoxin was the secret to coupe poudre.

Reports abound of people going into suspended comas following consumption of tetrodotoxin, which is produced in liver and ovaries of puffer fish. Voodoo doctors would administer the toxin to a victim, who would be declared dead and buried before being disinterred by the doctor and revived. The tree frog irritant causes skin abrasions, allowing the tetrodotoxin to enter the bloodstream. According to Davis’s research, zombification was reserved as a punishment for those who violated the laws of Bizango societies formed by escaped slaves.

9 Brooklyn Zombie Epidemic

In 2015, Brooklyn police were called to the subway station at the corner of Myrtle Avenue and Broadway to respond to a horde of “zombies.” Multiple individuals were moving mechanically in a trance-like state, moaning and groaning, with lifeless eyes. A blood and urine screen of the eight men revealed that they were under the influence of a synthetic cannabinoid 85 times more potent than marijuana.

In 2009, Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer patented AMB-FUBINACA, which is now sold under the name “AK-47 24 Karat Gold.” This designer drug alters the chemical composition of plant-based THC, marijuana’s primary intoxicant. AMB-FUBINACA is 50 times stronger than the first generation of synthetic cannabinoids known as “spice” or “K2.” The substance is produced primarily in labs in China and is available for purchase on the dark web. One kilogram costs between $1,950 and $38,000 and can be administered over 15,625 doses. A dealer can potentially net $500,000.

8 Flakka

Flakka, or “gravel,” is a highly addictive designer drug. Its technical name is alpha-pyrrolidinopentiophenone, or alpha-PVP. Originally synthesized in the 1960s, these foul-smelling white or pink crystals can be eaten, snorted, smoked, injected, or vaped. These “second-generation bath salts” mimic the effect of cocaine and meth at a fraction of the cost. Flakka is ten times stronger than cocaine, and its stimulating effects can last for days.

Flakka spikes body temperature, leading to kidney failure and even death. Its most terrifying side effect might be what is referred to as “excited delirium.” This condition includes paranoia, hallucinations, and superhuman strength. Flakka has been tied, correctly or incorrectly, to shocking acts of violence, including two cannibal attacks in Florida, leading the press to dub flakka a zombie drug. In 2014, the DEA placed a temporary ban on alpha-PVP. Drug chemists will soon skirt the law by altering its chemical structure.

7 Zombie Jihadists

Captagon is the drug of choice for ISIS militants in Syria’s civil war. Some fear it is creating an army of “zombie jihadists.” This amphetamine-based substance obliterates fear, empathy, pain, and fatigue. According to proponents, it gives you energy, enhances strength, and increases alertness. In small doses, it keeps you up for 48 hours and sharpens senses. Large doses cause paranoia, violence, and a thirst for slaughter. According to some reports, the terrorists who carried out the attack in the Paris nightclub were under the influence of captagon.

Fennethylline is the drug’s scientific name. There are rumors of some individuals taking up to 30 or 40 pills at a single time. Many aren’t sure that the reports about the zombie-inducing nature of this “inferior speed” are accurate. They suggest the placebo effect, religious fanaticism, and media sensationalism may be more reasonable explanations and that an army of zombie jihadists is unlikely. Nevertheless, battlefield users of captagon relish its ability to eliminate concern for their lives or the lives of others.

6 Methcathinone

In June 2015, Chinese police announced the seizure of 1.8 tons of a zombie drug in Xiamen. Methcathinone is a cheap, highly addictive stimulant known to turn users violent. Police described it as a “flesh-eating drug that makes people act like zombies.” Also known as “cat,” the drug remains largely unknown in the West. Synthesis requires only ephedrine from decongestants, paint thinner, and sulfuric acid. As an added bonus, the process smells like pistachio ice cream.

Ease of manufacture and low price are spreading the drug throughout South Africa. It produces powerful stimulation and euphoria at a fraction of the cost of cocaine. Cat was originally derived from khat, a stimulant leaf chewed in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. In 1928, German chemists first synthesized khat. It became a popular antidepressant in the USSR throughout the 1930s and 1940s. However, it was banned due to frequent misuse.

5 Zombie Dust

Zombie dust is a mixture of Halcion and cocaine. Also known as triazolam, Halcion is a powerful sedative. Initially patented in 1970s, it was engineered to treat severe insomnia. The pairing with a potent stimulant like cocaine creates a drug cocktail that, in the words of Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, “keeps the body awake but shuts off the brain.” During the band’s 1987 Girls, Girls, Girls tour, zombie dust became a key component of the Crue’s drug diet.

The tour was a fiasco—and zombie dust played a major part in the debacle. Nikki Sixx suffered a near-fatal overdose. During the tour, Motley Crue’s tour bus was followed by drug supplier in an exotic Excalibur sports car with a license plate that read “DEALER.” Ultimately, the record label pulled the plug before the band hit Europe. They were lucky to emerge from their tango with zombie dust alive.

4 Meow Meow

Mephedrone, or “meow meow,” is ravaging India. According to police, 80 percent of Mumbai’s addicts are dependent on the white powder. If you want to know who is on the substance, look for “zombies.” Some describe users as “pale, thin, sick people” who look “dead on their feet.”

At about $15 per gram, meow meow is roughly one-sixth the price of cocaine. It can be snorted or swallowed, providing hours of energy, euphoria, and increased sex drive. Users lose weight and suffer breakdowns and hallucinations. The crash is awful, and suicidal thoughts are common. Many users describe feeling like zombies and experiencing vivid hallucinations of dead people and demons.

Meow Meow was legal in India until 2015. Israel banned it in 2008, and Europe did likewise in 2010. In 2013, there was an account of a British meow meow user who stabbed his mother and then severed his penis with the same knife.

3 Nyaope

Nyaope, or “whoonga,” is a South Africa scourge. This cocktail of heroin, rat poison, detergent, and HIV antiretroviral medication is leading to an epidemic of drug “zombies.” The cheap concoction emerged in urban centers but has now penetrated every corner of the country. Users are frequently likened to the walking dead. All they can think about is getting more of the drug. Residents of many communities are now living in terror.

Nyaope use is also a major threat to HIV treatment in South Africa. Users are choosing to smoke their medicine for the intoxicating effect, rather than managing their condition. Nyaope use invariably damages a user’s immune system, exacerbating HIV. Furthermore, the drug encourages irresponsible sexual behavior, which could further spread the disease. Bags of nyaope sell for between $3 and $4. The high is potent and short-lived, causing the user to constantly seek more.

2 Krokodil

In the 1990s, doctors in the Russian Far East and Siberia saw a wave of patients with patches of black flesh that resembled crocodile skin. This was the result of “krokodil,” a chemical concoction meant to mimic the effects of heroin. The intoxicant, which eats you from the inside out, soon earned the nickname “zombie drug.” By 2011, Russia and Ukraine had over 120,000 krokodil addicts.

Everything required to produce krokodil (aka desomorphine) is available at a local pharmacy. The active ingredient is codeine, an opiate found in many cough suppressants. The codeine is mixed with hydrochloric acid, paint thinner, and red phosphorus from match tops. The foul-smelling yellow liquid sells for a fraction of heroin’s cost. Injection sites rapidly necrotize, occasionally tumbling off the bone in chunks. In 2013, a Missouri man’s finger fell off after being used as a krokodil injection site.

1 Devil’s Breath

Scopolamine may be the scariest drug in the world. Derived from the Colombian borrachero tree, “Devil’s breath” turns people into “zombies” and renders them incapable of forming memories. This odorless powder can be blown into targets’ faces, obliterating their free will. Tasteless, it is often slipped into alcoholic drinks. Criminals are quick to exploit its potential to turn victims into puppets who can easily be convinced to hand over their keys or empty their bank accounts.

Devil’s breath blocks certain neurotransmitters, turning off the ability to recall and making people open to suggestion. The drug was traditionally used to lure the wives of deceased leaders to graves, where they would be buried alive. Joseph Mengele, the Nazi “Angel of Death,” frequently used scopolamine on his experimental subjects. The CIA employed it as a truth serum during Cold War interrogations. Scopolamine is still used to treat Parkinson’s tremors and relieve motion sickness.

Abraham Rinquist is the executive director of the Winooski, Vermont, branch of the Helen Hartness Flanders Folklore Society. He is the coauthor of Codex Exotica and Song-Catcher: The Adventures of Blackwater Jukebox.

Smuggling drugs has always been a risky and dangerous activity. Many people take this risk in hopes of hitting it big and not getting caught. To do this, people get creative and have figured out millions of different ways to try and sneak drugs into the country. However, Border Protection and Customs are always working just as tirelessly to stop this from happening. These are the top 10 most creative ways people have tried to smuggle drugs.

Top 10 Bizarre But True Drugs And Their Effects

10 Breast Implants

In February 2016, German border officials arrested a Columbian woman at the Frankfurt airport in Germany bound from Columbia. She was found to be carrying 1 kilogram of cocaine hidden inside of her breast implants. The German officials found fresh scars below the women’s breasts indicating she had recently undergone surgery to have the drugs implanted. Shortly after being arrested, she was sent to a local hospital where doctors removed two 500 gram packages from her breasts each containing cocaine.

The Colombian woman admitted to smuggling these drugs citing that she was trying to provide for her three children back in Colombia. She said that the drugs were surgically implanted into her breasts by a Colombian doctor. German officials were shocked at this ingenious attempt to smuggle drugs, with German spokesperson Hans-Juergen Schmidt saying “This is the first case in Germany in which drugs have been smuggled in this fashion,”. The cocaine had an estimated street value of 200,000 euros and was bound to be transported to Spain through Germany.^[1]

9 In a Burrito

In May 2016, Customs and Border Protection officers arrested a woman from Nogales, Arizona at the Port of Nogales. The officers brought the 23-year-old Arizona woman in for an inspection when she crossed the Morley Pedestrian Gate. During this inspection, the officers found a white substance wrapped in a tortilla disguised as a burrito. It was later confirmed that the substance was Meth, and the woman was arrested. The drugs weighed in at over a pound and had an estimated street value of 3,000 dollars.

Though this was the first time the officers have seen someone try to smuggle drugs this way, they are used to people finding all sorts of weird spots to hide drugs. Just the following day, officers arrested a 43-year-old Mexican national at the Nogales land crossing. He was referred for a vehicle inspection where officers found nearly 24 pounds of cocaine and 10 pounds of meth hidden inside the trunk of his vehicle. The drugs had a combined estimated street value of 300,000 dollars.^[2]

8 In a Mr. Potato Head Toy

Mr. Potato head is a children’s toy made of a plastic potato with additional plastic attaching body parts. Enjoyed by children all around the world, this toy can be lots of fun. Although, in October 2007, the toy was used in an attempt to smuggle drugs. The toy was sent in a package departing Ireland heading to Australia. When scanning the package, Australian border officers were greeted with the smiling face of Mr. Potato Head. Upon opening up the toy, the officers found almost 10.5 ounces of ecstasy wrapped in a plastic bag.

The Australian Customs Service elevated the case to the federal police, but as the drugs were sent through the mail no arrests were made. In light of the situation, Australian Customs Director Post Karen Williams said: “Whilst this is one of the more unusual concealments that we have seen in recent times, people need to be aware that Customs officers are alert to unusual and often outlandish methods of concealment”. The Australian government is very strict on drug-related offences, and importing drugs carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.^[3]

7 Inside Fruit

It seems that hiding drugs inside of food is a common theme among drug smugglers. In April 2017, 9 people were arrested for smuggling drugs inside of fresh pineapples. In a joint task force involving Portugal and Spain police, a drug shipping operation based out of Portugal was halted. The drug smugglers were hollowing out fresh pineapples and filling them with plastic bags containing cocaine. It was believed that the smugglers had been using this method for months undetected by Spanish authorities.

At the time of the bust over 1000 pineapples containing 745 kilograms of cocaine were seized. The drugs had an estimated street value of a whopping 22.4 million dollars. After this case made national headlines Spanish authorities began to intercept copycat shipments using the same packaging methods.^[4]

6 Inside Animals

In February 2006, the United States Drug Enforcement Agency arrested 22 Colombian nationals for attempting to smuggle heroin into the United States. Officials say that the men surgically implanted the drugs into puppies in hopes of evading detection. The men were able to bring over 20 kilograms into the United States by slitting open the puppies and inserting the drugs into their body cavities. Unfortunately, 3 puppies died from complications involving having the packages inserted into them. The estimated street value of the heroin was over 20 million dollars.

This method of concealment is similar to how smugglers use humans to smuggle drugs. People who transport drugs into a country are referred to as drug mules, and use a variety of methods of concealment when transporting them. The most common method used is inserting the drugs into their body, either through swallowing the drugs or surgically implanting them underneath the skin. This practice carries tremendous risk with thousands of drug mules dying each year by accidental overdoses.^[5]

10 Crazy Drugs That Could Be Growing In Your Garden

5 Moulded Into a Cast

In March 2009, a 66-year-old Chilean man was arrested at the Barcelona airport in Spain for attempting to smuggle cocaine into Spain. The man attempted to pass through customs walking on crutches due to a casted broken leg. The man was escorted to have an x-ray done when Spanish authorities noticed discrepancies in the cast. It appeared that the cast wasn’t made out of a dense material like plaster, but rather a different type of material. The authorities performed a test to determine what material the cast was made of, and it turned positive for cocaine.

Upon further inspection of the man’s luggage, Spanish authorities found he was also carrying 6 beer cans and 2 hollowed out stools that had cocaine inside of them. After arriving at the hospital it was found that the man genuinely had a broken shin, and it is believed that he purposefully broke his shin so he could use the cast to smuggle drugs. He was found to be in possession of 11 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of over 500 thousand dollars.^[6]

4 Inside a Submarine

In September 2019, the United States Coast Guard and Colombian Naval assets captured a 40 foot long submarine in the Pacific Ocean bound for American soil. The Coast Guard found the submarine to be carrying 12,000 pounds of cocaine with a whopping estimated street value of 165 million dollars. 4 Colombian citizens were aboard the submarine during the seizure and were arrested. They have each been charged with 2 counts of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.

This method of smuggling has become increasingly popular in the last several years. Submarines are extremely expensive and are typically only used by top drug smugglers working for cartels. In June 2018 the Coast Guard seized another submarine carrying 17,000 pounds of cocaine. Those are just 2 of the 14 drug smuggling vessels that have been intercepted by the Coast Guard that year. The 14 vessels that were intercepted held a combined total of 39,000 pounds of cocaine and 933 pounds of marijuana. They had a combined street value of over 569 million dollars.^[7]

3 Strapped to a Pigeon

In May 2017, Kuwait officials apprehended a pigeon carrying drugs strapped to its back in a miniature backpack. The pigeon was found in Abdali close to the Iraqi border, A total of 178 pills containing ketamine were found on the pigeon. Ketamine is an anesthetic that is also commonly used as an illegal party drug. Customs officials had received information beforehand indicating that pigeons were being used to smuggle drugs, but this was the first time that officials had caught the bird in the act.

Although this may have been the first time Iraqi officials found pigeons carrying narcotics this isn’t the first time an incident like this has been reported. In 2017 guards at a Brazillian prison found a pigeon carrying a mobile phone. Since Roman times pigeons have been used to carry messages and other small objects. Pigeons have natural homing abilities making them a prime method to quickly relay information or transport small objects for up to hundreds of kilometres.^[8]

2 Using Drones

Over the past several years the use of recreational drones has skyrocketed. Because of this, smugglers have turned to use drones to transport drugs across borders without the hassle of security. The use of drones in smuggling has become a problem along the southwest border between Mexico and the United States. The United States Department of Border Protection estimates that 10s of drones pass through the border undetected every day bringing in an unknown amount of contraband.

In January 2018 a 25-year-old man was sentenced to 12 years in prison for flying a drone across the border between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. The drone was seized by United States Customs officials and contained 13 pounds of methamphetamine. Since this, there has also been over 500 other people prosecuted for illegally transporting narcotics through the border by drone. The maximum penalty for smuggling narcotics across the border in the United States is life imprisonment.^[9]

1 Inside Art

In January 2017, the United States Customs and Border Protection department intercepted a statue of a snail in the mail destined for Cincinnati, Ohio. Upon breaking the statue open the officials discovered a plastic bag containing over 50 pounds of methamphetamine. The package was shipped from Mexico and was labelled as “Mexican stone crafts”. The drugs had an estimated street value of 100,000 dollars. There has been no arrests in the case to date.

Drugs can also be hidden inside other forms of art, such as paintings. In March 2020, United States Custom and Border Protection officials discovered more drugs being smuggled through religious paintings. A crate full of 8 paintings was seized, and upon drilling into the picture frames it was discovered they were filled with methamphetamine. Officials found a total of 9.2 pounds distributed between the paintings with an estimated street value of 16,000 dollars.^[10]

Top 10 Terrifying But Fascinating Drugs

Slowly but surely, the US is getting its head around the idea of decriminalizing marijuana. Many states now allow its regulated sale for medical purposes, recreational use, or both. By federal law, it may still be illegal to use, possess, sell, cultivate, or transport in the rest of the country, but we’re a long way away from the whole “Reefer Madness!” panic of years gone by.

So what’s with the change of heart?

Well, there are a few reasons behind it. The big one is that weed has been proven to have some impressive health benefits. But surely, no other illegal drugs can actually be good for us in any way, can they? Well, it turns out that almost all major controlled substances can actually be put to good use in one way or another.

Let’s run down 10 illegal street drugs that have some surprisingly useful medical applications.

10 Cannabis

Pot, weed, marijuana, grass, bud, herb, call it what you will. Humans have been drying out cannabis plants and smoking them for literally thousands of years. Considered one of the safer and least serious drugs around, most people will have tried getting high at least once or twice in their lives. It’s estimated that 3.8 percent of the global population are regular users of the stuff.

Medical marijuana is currently legal in 26 US states, the District of Columbia, and Guam. So you know there must be plenty of health benefits from hitting the odd bong. And there are. It’s all about the cannabinoids. Weed is packed full of them—the main one being THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), an excellent painkiller. The body even produces small amounts of cannabinoids naturally to help reduce pain when needed.^[1]

Another cannabinoid in the ol’ Mary Jane, CBC (cannabichromene) has been proven to help in the treatment of epilepsy. Weed can also reduce inflammation, help battle multiple sclerosis, stop spasms, ease bladder problems, and even prevent chemotherapy nausea.

All in all? It’s a proven useful plant.

9 Cocaine

If you’re anything like us, you probably picture a disco from the 1970s when you think of cocaine. Huge bowls full of 95 percent pure Colombian marching powder clogging up the sinuses of rich playboys and their supermodel girlfriends. But there’s a much misunderstood side to blow, you know.

Not all that long ago, cocaine was hailed as a worldwide wonder drug. It was widely used as a laxative and a cure for motion sickness, hay fever, and even alcoholism. But soon, it proved addictive. So alternatives were found.^[2]

Medicine didn’t abandon cocaine, though. It still gets used by medical professionals today (and not just when they’re at a club). Eye, nose, and throat specialists still regularly employ cocaine—usually in paste form—as an anesthetic in surgeries.

8 MDMA

MDMA in its crystallized form can cure post–traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Naturally, the psychiatrists behind the study with this finding aren’t recommending that traumatized people start gobbling up ecstasy like M&M’S and expecting immediate positive results.

But in clinical environments, the rise in serotonin initiated by “Molly” results in calmer, happier patients who can bond nicely and easily with their therapists. These patients open up more willingly, and treatment becomes so much easier for everyone involved.^[3]

Stress and fear is repressed while on MDMA, so patients can discuss traumatic experiences without a problem. They can get to the root of their issues without having to worry about the further damage caused by remembering—and potentially reliving—their troubling experiences.

7 Crystal Meth

If you have trouble concentrating at work and find yourself daydreaming, fidgeting, and generally being distracted, there’s a chance you might be suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). If you see your doctor about it, there’s a much smaller chance that he’ll tell you to meet him in the parking lot afterward to sell you crystal meth. Although, perhaps he should . . . 

Stimulants like meth, when prescribed and taken in specific dosages (in other words, don’t try self-medicating), can regulate brain chemicals called neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine. Both help to control addictive behavior and compulsiveness.

We don’t want to convince you to start breaking bad and cooking meth in your underpants in an RV in the middle of the desert or anything, but meth can also help to combat obesity—as you can see in any “fan” of the drug. Fast weight loss programs will often recommend a drug called Desoxyn (aka dimethylbenzeneethanamine hydrochloride or pure methamphetamine).^[4]

6 Magic Mushrooms

Shrooms are great if you want to spend four hours staring at a wall, watch it bleed into a billion kaleidoscopic colors, and fail to keep up with the plot of any number of episodes of South Park. But they’re also good for a number of slightly more useful other things, too.

The chemical in mushrooms that makes you trip is called psilocybin. Researchers at the University of Arizona are confident of its ability to effectively treat patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD).

Mushrooms also help to alleviate the discomfort of severe cluster headaches, so much so that otherwise well-behaved people all across the world are risking jail time by buying and taking shrooms to kill the pain that can wreck their lives. Not only do these mushrooms kill the pain, they cause longer periods between attacks.^[5]

5 Ketamine

Ketamine might be a party drug to some people, but to veterinarians, it’s a horse tranquilizer. So when we tell you that “Special K” can help with your depression, you might not be too shocked. Sure, anything that can knock out half a ton of horse is going to calm you down, right? But ketamine’s ability to fight depression goes beyond that.

A study conducted at Yale University showed that ketamine doesn’t just alleviate the symptoms of being depressed. It can actually heal parts of the brain damaged by years of acute stress, trauma, and depression by fixing disconnected synapses. One dose can get to work in hours and last up to 10 days.^[6] It’s no wonder that horses always look so pleased with themselves.

4 Mescaline

Made famous by Hunter S. Thompson’s road trip book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, mescaline is a phenethylamine found in certain types of cacti. It’s the principal active psychedelic in peyote—the drug of choice of the Navajo tribe and Doors front men alike. And strangely, it might just be the cure for alcoholism.

In many Native American tribes, hallucinogenic drugs like mescaline and DMT have long been associated with addiction. But not in the way you might think. Rather than being drugs to which you get addicted, they help stop addictions to other substances. Scientific research into these drugs has been relatively limited, but the little that has been conducted appears to bear out the idea.^[7]

Alcoholism in Native American communities is an issue. Addiction rates are twice as high as with other American ethnicities. Yet in the Native American Church (aka “Peyotism”), rates of alcoholism are extremely low. Small doses over a course of weeks have been shown to relieve the intense cravings in addicts to drink.

“Psychedelic therapy” is a controversial topic. The evidence may not be perfect, but it’s more than anecdotal.

3 LSD

Lysergic acid diethylamide has its uses, too. And we’re not just talking about acid being the only way to make it through a Grateful Dead gig. Studies conducted at Maryland’s Spring Grove State Hospital showed that controlled doses of acid greatly reduced anxieties about death in terminally ill cancer patients.

Of the people monitored, a third felt “dramatically less tense” about their situation. Another third felt generally better about their fate, and the final third felt the same but no worse about their diagnosis.^[8]

2 Heroin

You don’t need us to tell you that heroin is bad. You’ve seen Trainspotting. You might even have read William S. Burroughs’s Junkie. It’s nasty stuff. But as a pain reliever? There’s none better.

The federal government’s blanket ban on horse means that you won’t find it in a US hospital. (At least, you shouldn’t be able to.) But in the UK? It’s given to pregnant women!

Perhaps to save scaring the expectant mom,^[9] it’s called “diamorphine.” But it’s heroin all the same. Injected intravenously, it relieves severe pain and reduces stress. It can also make labor last slightly longer, but it’s relatively risk-free. A one-time shot doesn’t cause addiction and has no ill effect on the body.

1 GHB

What makes so gammahydroxybutyrate (GHB) so controversial is also what makes it so useful. Taken recreationally, it produces a euphoric high and deep feelings of relaxation. It’s this depressant quality, however, that has seen GHB employed in so many date rapes. It was even the murder weapon of choice for the British serial killer Stephen Port, who would shoot his victims full of lethal doses of the stuff.^[10]

Although its reputation is tainted due to its use by violent criminals, this naturally occurring psychoactive is actually one of the most effective substances known to man when it comes to treating insomnia. GHB’s narcoleptic qualities are useful. Very useful. It’s just such a shame that they’re sometimes exploited so cynically and disgustingly.

Steve is a freelance writer who writes news stories, features, articles, reviews, and lists. But *always* forgets to write his mother a birthday card. Follow him on Twitter, or follow him into the pub and buy him a drink.

Med students have to learn about a vast amount of drugs in medical school and are expected to know about them. You might be surprised how many medicines were actually derived from nature. Many know that aspirin is derived from willow bark, but few realize just how many other medications are derived from plants.

A number of very common and useful medications employed today have extremely interesting histories and were taken from nature. I am a medical student myself, and I hope you find the origins of these medications to be as fascinating as I do.

10 Cannabis Sativa And Dronabinol

The Cannabis sativa plant has been part of the recent controversy regarding the legality of marijuana. While marijuana is most commonly associated with the cannabis plant, there is another extremely useful pharmaceutical that has come from it.

Many know the symptoms of marijuana intoxication, including red eyes, dilated pupils, dry mouth, increased appetite, slowed reaction time, euphoria, dizziness, shallow breathing, and increased heart rate. While some of these symptoms seem unappealing, the medical community has found others to be useful in treating certain populations of patients.

The drug dronabinol has been created as a synthetic form of THC to utilize some of marijuana’s side effects. There are various uses for the drug, but most commonly, it is used as an appetite stimulant for patients with AIDS and as an antiemetic in patients receiving chemotherapy.^[1]

While there has been some controversy regarding the use of dronabinol, it has been shown to be minimally harmful with a low potential for abuse. Who knew that giving someone the munchies could be so beneficial?

9 Podophyllum Peltatum And Etoposide

The Native Americans have recorded using the plant Podophyllum peltatum as a purgative, antiparasitic, and cathartic hundreds of years before its usefulness was officially recognized. Interestingly, the Penobscot people of Maine even appeared to be using it to treat “cancer.” The Iroquois additionally used it to treat snakebites and as a suicide agent. Despite this, the medical use for P. peltatum was not official in the United States until 1820 and not until 1861 in Europe.

Hartmann Stahelin was a Swiss pharmacologist who had made large contributions to the cancer therapy field. He had a particular proclivity for biomedical sciences and was recruited to lead the pharmacology department in Basel in hopes of researching cancer and immunology in 1955.^[2]

Once in Basel, he lead the discovery of various antitumor agents from P. peltatum, also known as mayapple. Initially considered by chemists to be “dirt,” Stahelin noticed that a particular extract from the Podophyllum plant had interesting properties. After purifying this compound, it was found to be a new class of antitumor medication.

Named etoposide, the medication works by stopping the tumor cells’ ability to divide. It blocks a specific enzyme that cells need in order to replicate. Therefore, rapidly dividing cells such as cancer cells are heavily affected. Currently, etoposide is used to treat various cancers, especially that of the lung, and can be thanked for saving many lives.

8 The Calabar Bean And Physostigmine

The Efik people from the Akwa Iborn State, or modern-day Southeast Nigeria, were the first to be in contact with physostigmine from the calabar bean (Physostigma venenosum). Use of the calabar bean was very common in Efik culture as an ordeal poison for those accused of witchcraft. The milky extract of the bean was given to the accused, and if they died, the accusation of witchcraft was confirmed. If they lived, usually due to vomiting the poison out, they were declared innocent and set free.

Missionaries wrote about the Efik’s use of the calabar bean, and some of the beans found their way back to Scotland.^[3] In 1855, a toxicologist named Robert Christison decided to test the poison’s toxicity by consuming a bean and surviving to document what he experienced.

It was studied throughout the 1860s, most notably by Douglas Argyll Robertson, who was the first to use the calabar bean extracts medically and recorded its effects on the pupil. The most potent component from the calabar bean was finally isolated and named physostigmine by Thomas Fraser. In 1867, Ludwig Laqueur tested the extract on himself and used it to successfully treat his glaucoma. By the 1920s, Otto Loewi discovered the neurotransmitter acetylcholine and found that the calabar bean extract worked by increasing that neurotransmitter, having profound effects on the parasympathetic nervous system.

Medically, physostigmine does increase the amount of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine by blocking the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, which breaks it down. It is especially useful in treating the disease myasthenia gravis and has been more recently used to treat Alzheimer’s, as it has the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier.

7 Meadow Saffron And Colchicine

The use of the plant Colchicum autumnale, or meadow saffron, for medical problems has been recorded as far back as 1500 BC on the ancient Egyptian Ebers Papyrus for rheumatism and swelling. Since then, C. autumnale has been a treatment for other maladies such as gout, familial Mediterranean fever, Behcet’s disease, and pericarditis. It works in a similar way to Taxol, as it blocks microtubules.

As early as the first century AD, C. autumnale was being described as a treatment for gout by Pedanius Dioscorides. Gout is a type of arthritis characterized by needle-shaped crystals building up in the joints, causing sudden pain attacks, swelling, and redness. Others, such as Alexander of Tralles, Persian physician Avicenna, and Ambroise Pare have also recommended C. autumnale as a treatment for gout. Colchicine itself was isolated from C. autumnale in 1820 by French chemists P.S. Pelletier and J.B. Caventou. It was later purified by P.L. Geiger in 1833.^[4]

Despite its long history of being effective, colchicine actually had no FDA-approved prescribing information, dosage, recommendation, or drug interaction warnings until as recently as 2009.

6 Indian Snakeroot And Reserpine

Rauwolfia serpentina (Indian snakeroot or sarpagandha) is a plant that was known in India for its medicinal purposes long before its discovery by the Western world. Georg Rumpf, a botanist with the Dutch East India Trading Company, first noticed the plant in 1755 during his travels. He recorded it as being used as a treatment for insanity in South Asia. Extracts from the roots of the Indian snakeroot were sold cheaply in markets all over India as pagalon ki dawa, or “drugs for the mad.” In addition, it was also used by mothers in Eastern India to put their crying babies to sleep as well as a treatment for labor, snakebites, fever, and intestinal problems. Mahatma Gandhi reportedly used extracts from the roots as a tranquilizer as well.

By the early 20th century, India undertook efforts to standardize and research the pharmacologic properties of sarpagandha. Professor Salimuzzaman Siddiqu began systematic research on the active constituents of the roots and root bark in 1927. Dr. Kartick Chandra Bose and Gananath Sen, two leading physicians from Calcutta (now called Kolkata), also independently noted the use of the extract to treat high blood pressure and insanity. Dr. Rustom Vakil, known as the father of modern cardiology in India, popularized the use of the plant to treat high blood pressure.

Isolated in 1952 from the dried root of R. serpentina, reserpine quickly became popular in Western medicine. It became the first drug ever to successfully show antidepressant properties in a randomized placebo-controlled trial.^[5] Though it is rarely used today due to its immense side effect profile, it was critical in furthering our understanding of the role of neurotransmitters in depression and blood pressure.

5 Indian Hemp And Pilocarpine

As settlers began coming to the New World in the early 1600s, they noticed that the indigenous tribes of Brazil had a vast knowledge of the medicinal uses of local plants. One plant in particular, Pilocarpus jaborandi (Indian hemp), was used to treat a variety of maladies but most commonly for fever. It was found that the leaves could trigger profuse sweating, salivation, and urination as a way to rid the body of toxins. The name jaborandi even comes from the Tupi translation for “what causes slobbering.”^[6]

In the 1870s, P. jaborandi was incorporated into Western medicine and became a popular treatment for intestinal problems, lung problems, fever, skin issues, kidney disease, and edema in Europe. Surprisingly, the plant was also found to be an effective antidote to deadly nightshade poisoning. By 1875, pilocarpine was isolated from the plant and found to be the main culprit behind its effects. This was discovered almost simultaneously by two different researchers, one in France and one in England.

Pilocarpine was soon found to be an extremely effective treatment for glaucoma by decreasing the pressure in the eye. Even today, it remains a very popular and widely used treatment for glaucoma as well as a means to induce perspiration when trying to diagnose cystic fibrosis. Laboratories still haven’t been able to fully replicate and synthesize the pilocarpine found in P. jaborandi. This plant remains one of Brazil’s largest and most important exports.

4 The Pacific Yew Tree And Paclitaxel

Researchers are continuously searching for new and innovative ways to fight cancer. Sometimes, the treatments that they are searching for may be much closer to home than they realize. In 1955, the National Cancer Institute created the Cancer Chemotherapy National Service Center (CCNSC) in hopes of finding new cancer treatments. In the 1960s, the CCNSC looked to partner with the US Department of Agriculture to search for these cures within nature. Over the course of about 20 years, 30,000 natural plant and animal products were tested.

Out of the 30,000 samples, one was found to be pivotal in the treatment of cancer. Two researchers, Dr. Monroe Wall and Mansukh Wani, discovered that the extracts from the bark of the Pacific yew tree (Taxus brevifolia), indigenous to the Pacific Northwest, were toxic to tumor cells.^[7] Later, it was found that the toxic compound is actually synthesized by a fungus within the bark. Thus, the new chemotherapy drug known as paclitaxel was born.

Paclitaxel (brand name Taxol) is commonly to treat breast and ovarian cancer. Medically, it works by blocking microtubules, which basically stops the cancer cells from being able to divide and grow. Since its discovery, paclitaxel has become a big part of cancer treatment and saved millions of lives.

3 Deadly Nightshade And Atropine

Atropa belladonna, commonly known as belladonna or deadly nightshade, is an herb that has been used for many centuries by many people to treat a wide variety of maladies. The plant is native to Europe, North Africa, and West Asia but has been more recently introduced to Canada and the United States. Prior to the Middle Ages, the herb was used as an anesthetic for surgery. Its deadly toxicity enabled its use as a poison for political enemies or on the tip of an arrow by the military in ancient Rome.

During the Middle Ages, the deadly nightshade plant became very popular for cosmetic purposes. Venetian women would use it to redden the pigment of their skin as a type of blush. Another common use for the herb was for dilating the pupils of women in order to make them more seductive and attractive. The herb obtained the name belladonna, meaning “beautiful lady,” exactly because of this use. Despite these more benign functions, many quickly became aware of the herb’s more deadly abilities. It was later utilized by assassins and criminals as well as witches to make poison.

Despite years of its use as a poison and cosmetic, it was soon realized that A. belladonna had more of an ability to help than previously realized. It could be used as a pain reliever, muscle relaxant, anti-inflammatory, whooping cough treatment, and hay fever treatment. In the 1930s, the therapeutic component of belladonna, known as atropine, was isolated.^[8] Belladonna, by itself, does not have approved medical uses, but atropine has since become an extremely useful medication in the medical community.

Atropine is known as an anticholinergic, meaning it blocks the effects of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Its mechanism of action is basically opposite to that of physostigmine. Because of this, atropine can cause pupil dilation, increased heart rate, and decreased secretions. In addition to its uses of raising heart rate and decreasing saliva prior to surgery, it can also be used to reverse certain overdoses. Various derivatives of atropine have also been developed for other medical uses. For example, tiotropium and ipratropium bromide are used in various lung disorders.

2 The Cinchona Tree And Quinine

Found in the bark of the cinchona tree in South America, quinine was initially used by the Quechua as a muscle relaxant.^[9] It was then brought to Europe by the Jesuits, and by 1570, the Spanish had become aware of the cinchona bark’s medicinal properties. Nicolas Monardes and Juan Fragoso recorded that it could be used as a treatment for diarrhea. Despite the varied ancient uses for quinine, the big discovery for its use came in the early 17th century.

The marshes and swamps surrounding Rome in the early 17th century were teeming with malaria-ridden mosquitoes. Malaria is a mosquito-borne infection caused by parasitic protozoans. Symptoms include fever, fatigue, vomiting, headache, jaundice, seizures, and eventually death. Malaria lead to the deaths of many popes, cardinals, and citizens at the time. Agostino Salumbrino, a Jesuit apothecary, had seen the cinchona bark being used for the shivering phase of malaria. At the time, Salumbrino did not know that the bark’s effect on malaria was unrelated to its effect on rigors, but regardless, he brought it to Rome.

Over the years, cinchona bark became one of the most valuable exports from Peru, even curing King Charles II. In 1737, Charles Marie de La Condamine discovered the most potent component of cinchona bark, and it was later isolated by Pierre Joseph Pelletier and Joseph Caventou in 1820. The extract was was named quinine, based on the Incan word quina, meaning “bark” or “holy bark.”

Large-scale malaria prophylaxis with quinine began around 1850. The drug actually played a very significant role in African colonization by Europeans. In the early 19th century, Peru tried to outlaw the export of cinchona bark, seeds, and saplings to maintain their monopoly. Fortunately for the world, the Dutch were successful at growing the tree in their Indonesian plantations and soon became the main supplier.

During World War II, the Allies were cut off from quinine when Germany conquered the Netherlands and Japan controlled Indonesia and the Philippines. The United States was eventually able to obtain four million seeds from the Philippines, but not before thousands of Allied troops died from malaria in Africa and the South Pacific. Thousands of Japanese troops also died despite their control, due to ineffective manufacturing of quinine.

Since its discovery, quinine has played a role in saving millions of lives as well as having major effects on wars, colonization, and history in general. It has since been replaced as the first-line treatment for malaria by newer drugs in 2006 by the World Health Organization. Quinine can also be used for other diseases, such as babesiosis, restless leg syndrome, lupus, and arthritis.

1 Foxglove And Digoxin

Digoxin was once a mainstay treatment for heart failure and arrhythmia. It works by slowing the patient’s heart rate but increasing the heart’s contraction intensity. Unfortunately, the drug has a very narrow therapeutic index, meaning that it can be extremely easy to overdose, with disastrous effects.

Digoxin’s discovery by Scottish doctor William Withering occurred in 1775 . He was working as a physician when a patient came to him suffering from a bad heart condition. Withering had nothing to offer the man, as there was no acceptable treatment for heart failure at the time. Thinking he was going to die, the patient went to a town gypsy and miraculously improved after being given an herbal remedy.

After seeing this, Dr. Withering searched for the gypsy, eventually finding her and demanding to know what was in her remedy. After Dr. Withering bargained with the gypsy, she finally revealed many things within the remedy, but Digitalis purpurea, or foxglove, was the main ingredient. The potency of foxglove was already well-known, as it had been used as a poison in medieval trials by ordeal as well as externally applied to heal wounds.

Withering immediately went to work testing variations of the foxglove extract on 163 patients. He eventually found that dried, powdered leaves gave him the most successful results, and it was first officially used in 1785.^[10] Even though it is not as commonly used now, digoxin was revolutionary in its ability to help those with heart failure.

+ Chondrodendron Tomentosum Vine And Tubocurarine

For centuries, South American natives used poison from the Chondrodendron tomentosum vine to hunt animals. When Spanish conquistadors returned from the New World, they spoke of a mysterious “flying death.” In 1516, Peter Martyr d’Anghera, a chronicler, wrote of these tales in his book De Orbe Novo for King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Sir Walter Raleigh visited Venezuela in 1594 and also recorded the use of the poisoned arrows in his book Discovery of the Large, Rich and Beautiful Empire of Guiana. One of Sir Raleigh’s lieutenants referred to the poison as ourari, which later became various European renderings, one of which was “curare.”

Further exploration of South America was put on hold until the 18th century due to wars. A physician named Edward Bancroft traveled to South America for five years and was able to bring back some samples of curare. Sir Benjamin Brodie then used his samples on small animals. He was able to keep them alive after inflating their lungs with bellows. Charles Waterton moved to South America in 1804 and obtained some ourari from a local tribe. In 1814, he demonstrated its effects on three donkeys to an audience that included Sir Benjamin Brodie. The first donkey had its shoulder injected with the extract and died immediately. The second had it injected under a tourniquet on its leg and lived until the tourniquet was removed. The third died after its injection but was revived with bellows and went on to survive.

Curare was found to work at the nerve-muscle junction after Claude Bernard’s experiments on frogs. Further research on curare discovered that it had potential as a muscle relaxant for patients under anesthesia. Curare-like compounds were created, mirroring the original isolated curare. Today, these compounds are vital to almost all procedures involving anesthesia. The drugs work by causing complete skeletal muscle relaxation during surgery or mechanical ventilation as a part of the general anesthesia protocol.^[11]

Shelby is currently a third-year medical student. While she doesn’t have much free time anymore, she still loves writing top 10 lists when inspiration strikes.

Other than possibly cannabis, we have been advised to stay away from drugs because of their negative consequences. As is often said, once you start, it is difficult to stop. What many of us do not know is that drugs are not the only things that are habit-forming.

Certain foods can also be addictive, with some even having the same chemical effects on our bodies as drugs. The result is that we become physically or mentally dependent on these foods and keep munching them to cure the ridiculous addictions.

10 Cookies

Consuming a large number of cookies might seem like a habit. But as we are about to find out, it could be the result of an addiction. In one study, Jamie Honohan of Connecticut College injected rats with either a saline solution or one of cocaine or morphine. Thereafter, he put the animals in a maze containing rice cakes and Oreos, leaving the rats to move around freely.

He realized that the animals moved to the area containing the Oreos, which they clearly preferred to the rice cakes. They became excited after eating the cream filling of the Oreos, just as they remained excited when injected with the drugs.^[1]

Honohan later tested proteins from the rats and discovered that their accumbens—which is known as the “pleasure center” of the brain—was more excited when they ate Oreos than when they were injected with cocaine.

9 Wheat

Wheat is an addictive food that no one seems to notice. One of its properties is high gluten content, making “gluten free” the catchphrase for supposedly healthy wheat foods. However, consuming large quantities of wheat is unhealthy, whether it contains gluten or not.

Today’s product is not the same as the wheat of the past. Instead, modern wheat is the result of genetic engineering that has been going on for about 50 years. It is called “FrankenWheat” for this reason. It contains lots of starch, gluten, and addictive proteins that keep you coming back for more.

When consumed, these addictive proteins are broken down into polypeptides, which attach to brain receptors to make consumers high and addicted. Polypeptides also get into the bloodstream. At this point, they are called gluteomorphins, which is just a name derived from “gluten” and “morphine.”^[2]

Wheat addicts will always crave more sweet wheat products like cookies and cakes. Interestingly, wheat addiction can be treated with drugs like naloxone, which doctors use to cure heroin or morphine overdose. Besides the addiction, wheat has been linked to cancer, obesity, heart disease, and several other medical disorders.

8 Meat

Meat is a natural and good source of animal protein. As a result, it is hard to distinguish between a person addicted to meat and someone who just needs its protein content.

Meat contains hypoxanthine, a caffeine-like stimulant that makes us feel satisfied. Hypoxanthine even has the same properties as caffeine. Older meat contains more hypoxanthine, which is why some people exhibit withdrawal symptoms and a serious craving for this type of food if they do not eat it for a while.^[3]

Meat contains other addictive substances like guanylic and inosinic acids, which have the same effect as hypoxanthine. Worse yet, once you are addicted to hypoxanthine, you will need to consume more meat to reach the same level of satisfaction.

7 Ice Cream

Ice cream arouses the same part of our brain as drugs. Over time, we will need to eat more ice cream to maintain that arousal. When we don’t, we become depressed, just as drug addicts do when they do not get drugs.

Kyle S. Burger and Eric Stice from the Oregon Research Institute studied the effect of ice cream addiction on the human brain. While scanning the brain activity of 151 teens, the researchers showed these young people a cartoon of a milkshake to measure their cravings before giving them actual milkshakes to consume during the scans.

The researchers noticed that the teens who had consumed a lot of ice cream in the weeks leading to the study were not as excited by having a milkshake as those who hadn’t eaten much ice cream previously. This was measured by activity in the brain’s pleasure center while having a milkshake.

As with using hard drugs, the teens who ate ice cream prior to the study needed more milkshakes to reach the same level of satisfaction as those who did not eat ice cream before the study.^[4]

6 Cheese

Cheese is another addictive food we shove down our throats from time to time. It is found in many junk foods including pizza. It could even be the reason why some of us are addicted to pizza. This is because cheese contains the opiate molecules casein and casomorphins.^[5]

Casomorphins are fragments of casein and have the same effect as morphine in the body. They attach themselves to the brain receptors that drugs like morphine and heroin do. In response, the brain releases dopamine in the same way as when someone takes drugs.

Cheese makers know these facts and take advantage of them to sell more of their products. Although cheese will not turn you into a crackhead, it will make you high and addicted, although at a lower level than drugs.

5 Sugar

Like every other food, sugar can be healthy or unhealthy depending on how it is used. Unlike every other food, it can also become addictive. A study by researchers at Queensland University of Technology discovered that sugar has the same effect on the body as cocaine. Both make the body release dopamine.

Over the long term, the amount of dopamine released becomes smaller compared to the amount of cocaine or sugar consumed, leading addicts to want more. When a sugar addict does not get enough sugar to trigger the release of dopamine, he could fall into depression in the same way that cocaine users feel when they cannot get the drug. When sugar addicts stop eating sugar, they may exhibit withdrawal symptoms just like cocaine users.

Another study by Dr. James DiNicolantonio found that sugar is even more addictive than cocaine. In the study, rats addicted to cocaine switched to sugar after tasting it for the first time. The relationship between sugar and drugs becomes much closer when we realize that the Food and Drug Administration has approved varenicline, the same drug used to treat nicotine withdrawal, to treat sugar withdrawal.^[6]

However, an earlier study by researchers from Edinburgh University concluded that sugar addiction is actually a behavioral problem and not an addiction. In essence, people consume sugar because they love it and not because they are addicted to it. In fact, their research claims that it is impossible to become addicted to sugar.

4 Coffee

The United States tops every other nation in caffeine consumption. The average American drinks three cups of coffee a day, and that is without counting their intake from other products like energy drinks and soda. Why do Americans drink so much coffee, you might ask? It could be the result of an addiction.^[7]

This beverage contains caffeine, which has been crowned the “world’s most addictive and widely used drug.” It triggers the release of dopamine, making us feel good in the same way that drugs make users feel good. Caffeine also causes a serious addiction that can only be cured by drinking more coffee.

3 Soda

Some sodas like Pepsi and Coca-Cola are irresistible because they contain caffeine, which is super addictive. So even if you do not drink coffee, you can still get caffeine in cola. Research indicates that 80 percent of Americans consume caffeine in one way or another every day.

Caffeine in cola enters the bloodstream and the brain where it disrupts the adenosine receptors responsible for slowing down the nerve cells in the brain. When this happens, our body goes into a state of alertness and releases adrenaline, which is usually released naturally when we are in danger.

The body soon realizes that there is no danger and creates more adenosine receptors to block the effects of the cola. The drinker, who is already addicted at this point, is then forced to consume more soda to reach the same level of satisfaction as before. Besides caffeine, soda has been criticized for containing caramel coloring, phosphoric acid, and plenty of sugar or high-fructose corn syrup.^[8]

A can of Coca-Cola has 10 teaspoons of sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, which causes diabetes in the long run. Caramel coloring has been linked to cancer, and phosphoric acid is just too acidic at a pH of 2.5. For comparison, car batteries have a more acidic pH of 1 and water has a neutral pH of 7.

Phosphoric acid in soda does not damage our stomachs because the stomach digests this acid with the aid of calcium phosphate from our bones. This could cause bone problems like fracture and osteoporosis in the long run.

2 Potato Chips

Have you ever wondered why it is so hard to quit eating those bags of potato chips? According to a study, this is because they are as addictive as hard drugs. So once you pop the contents of a bag of chips, you might not stop.

Like cheese, potato chips trigger the release of dopamine that messes with our bodies and gives us the same effect as drugs do for users. Research by Dr. Tony Goldstone of Imperial College London revealed that pictures of potato chips and junk foods in general excited the same part of the brain as images of alcohol do for boozers and pictures of drugs stimulate for drug users.^[9]

1 Chocolate

Chocolate turns out to be another innocent food as addictive as drugs. This is because it contains sugar, fats, theobromine, and enkephalin, the caffeine of the cacao world. Theobromine and enkephalin are stimulants. Theobromine is known to trigger the expansion of our blood vessels and a drop in our heart rate and blood pressure to create a relaxing feeling, just like drugs.

The effects of enkephalin need more study because most of the relevant research was done on rats. However, unlike rats, humans are not easily influenced by enkephalin. Researchers discovered that rats fed M&M’S candies experienced a spike in enkephalin secretion, which excited the opioid receptors of the brain just like heroin and morphine. At the same time, this made the rats crave more chocolate to keep the secretion going.^[10]

Every drug can have side effects, but we don’t usually pay attention to the labels on the bottles, probably because generally, only a minority will experience the side effects. And they’re not usually that terrible—maybe a rash or a bad bout of diarrhea.

However, some drugs have some weird and often nasty side effects, like those that can make people violent and suicidal. Sometimes, the unintended consequences are good, such as making people less racist. Here we go.

10 Propanolol Makes Users Less Racist

Propanolol is used to treat heart disease, high blood pressure, the physical effects of anxiety, and migraines. But in 2012, researchers at Oxford University found that it can also reduce racism.

Researchers made this discovery after a study revealed that the drug made users less racist. The experiment involved 36 white people who were divided into two equal groups. One group received doses of propanolol, while the others received a placebo. Then both groups were given a test used to detect subconscious racism.^[1]

Results showed the group that took propanolol was less racist than the group that took the placebo. Researchers believe this happens because propanolol works on the amygdalae, the areas of the brain that control emotional responses like fear.

9 Lariam Makes Users Murderous And Suicidal

Lariam is used to treat malaria, but it has the terrible side effect of making users murderous and suicidal. The severity of this is worsened when we realize that the drug used to be the top choice of several militaries deploying soldiers overseas.

In 2009, the US military stopped giving the drug to its special forces after it was linked to several killings and suicides. In one incident, a US soldier killed 16 people in Afghanistan after taking the drug. Today, it is considered a severe offense to administer Lariam to serving US military officers.

Several Irish soldiers have also fingered Lariam for causing a range of symptoms, including memory loss, anxiety, depression, sleeplessness, restlessness, and permanent brain injury. The terrible side effects have caused several militaries to ban Lariam. Others, like the German military, only administer it if other drugs do not work.

In 2013, the FDA had Roche add a black box warning to the drug. A black box is the most severe warning the FDA can have a manufacturer add to their product. The warning states, “Neurologic side effects can occur at any time during drug use, and can last for months to years after the drug is stopped or can be permanent.”^[2]

8 Aripiprazole Makes Users Gamble

Aripiprazole, (aka Abilify, Aristada, etc.) has been blamed for causing weird side effects like excessive shopping, gambling, sex, and eating in users. Aripiprazole is used to treat autism symptoms, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and Tourrette’s syndrome.

Most users complain of the excessive urge to gamble. Strangely, even non-gamblers started gambling after taking the drug. One former user said he gambled so hard that his parents kicked him out of their home.

A Las Vegas woman who was prescribed Abilify to treat her depression said she gambled so much that she lost her home and kids. She’d never had a gambling problem before. The woman claimed she spent between $1 and $2 million on gambling in five years. Once, she was so engrossed in gambling that she missed her flight. She rescheduled the flight and continued gambling but also missed the rescheduled flight.

Researchers believe this happens because aripiprazole affects the dopamine receptors of the brain. Dopamine is released from the brain during pleasure.^[3] The weird side effects stopped when users were taken off the drug.

7 Ambien Makes Users Cook And Eat While Sleeping

Ambien is used to treat insomnia. While the drug works at getting people to sleep, its side effects can see users getting up from their bed, cooking, and eating—all while sleeping. They remain in the kitchen or return to their bed, where they eat and doze off again.

Users have no memory of cooking or eating and will usually be surprised when they find messes in their kitchens and beds the next morning. The weird cooking habit often leads to obesity because for some unknown reasons, users tend to choose high-calorie foods.^[4]

If the sleep-cooking side effect isn’t scary enough, Ambien has also been linked to sleep-driving. However, those arrested for sleeping while driving under the influence of Ambien had taken the drug just before driving, a gross misuse of the medication. There is no recorded instance of a driver waking up from sleep to drive after taking the drug.

6 Capecitabine Can Make Users Lose Their Fingerprints

In 2009, a 62-year-old man was denied entry into the US because he was suspected of being a threat. The reason? He did not have fingerprints. As it turned out, the man lost his fingerprints because he was on capecitabine, which he took as part of his cancer treatment.

Some researchers think the loss of fingerprints could be linked to hand-foot syndrome and hand-foot skin reaction, two other side effects of the drug. Both side effects cause the fingers to swell and peel. However, this is inconclusive.

In one study, 14 percent of capecitabine users lost their fingerprints after eight weeks on the drug. However, a third of those who’d lost their fingerprints regained them within four weeks of stopping treatment.^[5]

5 Mirapex And ReQuip Cause Sudden Sleep

Mirapex and ReQuip are used to treat Parkinson’s disease. Their major side effect is sudden sleep, as in the user just dozes off without warning. Patients have reported falling asleep while driving, sometimes leading to disastrous consequences.

In one incident, a 72-year-old woman crashed her vehicle and killed a pedestrian after falling asleep at the wheel. Beforehand, her physician had prescribed some drugs, including Mirapex and Ultram, a pain reliever she took for her back pain. She noticed she often fell asleep without warning, prompting her to return to her physician.

The unnamed physician blamed her sudden sleep pattern on Ultram (instead of Mirapex) and replaced it with Vicodin. A week later, she was involved in the accident. She fell asleep at the wheel and ran over a pedestrian, causing serious brain injuries that led to death. She’d taken Mirapex, Ultram (despite the prescription change), and Sinemet with a bit of alcohol before the accident.

The sleep-related incidents linked to Mirapex and ReQuip were such that Health Canada asked the drugs’ makers, Boehringer and GlaxoSmithKline, respectively, to inform physicians to advise patients not to drive or engage in activities that require alertness because the drugs can cause sudden sleep.

Some physicians in some cities were also advised to inform local vehicle departments whenever they administered the drugs to a patient. Younger Parkinson’s patients who need to drive regularly often will not take the drugs.^[6]

4 Chantix Makes Users Violent And Suicidal

Chantix is used to help smokers quit smoking. It can also make people suicidal and violent. Users become suicidal and aggressive within two days of taking the drugs and less aggressive when they stop taking the drug. They are also more likely to become more aggressive if they’re taking other drugs with Chantix.

In one incident, a 24-year-old woman beat her boyfriend and attempted killing herself. A 21-year-old woman threatened to shoot her mother, a 42-year-old man punched another person for no reason, and a 46-year-old man thought of committing suicide.

The incidents have sometimes turned deadly, like in 2007, when a musician turned aggressive after taking the drug. He was shot and killed while trying to break into the home of his girlfriend’s neighbor.

Today, the FDA requires Chantix’s manufacturer, Pfizer, to include a warning that the drug can cause violence and suicide. Pfizer disagrees. While the drug company probably agrees that Chantix could be dangerous, they say its benefits are more important than its side effects.^[7]

3 Thalidomide Caused Severe Birth Defects

Thalidomide used to be the go-to drug for depression, insomnia, and morning sickness. It was approved in the UK in 1958 but was banned in 1961, after it was discovered to cause deformities in babies, especially in the limbs.

Within three years, thousands of women who took thalidomide during pregnancy birthed over 10,000 children with shortened or even absent limbs. Its manufacturer, Distillers, quickly found itself in trouble and was forced to pay millions of pounds in settlement. This includes the £200 million it is still paying to 455 limbless children affected by the drug. Payment will be completed in 2037.^[8]

While children in Canada, Europe, and the Middle East suffered from the effects of the drug, American children were less affected because the drug was never approved for widespread use in the United States. This was because of Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey of the FDA, who insisted that the William S. Merrell Company of Cincinnati (which was trying to get the drug approved in the US) provide more information about thalidomide.

The company could not provide more information and was so distraught with the refusal that they ringed Dr. Kelsey’s supervisors and told them she was a “petty bureaucrat.” By 1961, the effects of the drugs were already clear.

Dr. Kelsey received a medal for service to humanity from Congress and the highest federal civilian service award from President Kennedy. Decades later, she received the Order of Canada from the Canadian government. Congress also passed laws to ensure that drugs were safe before they could be approved for sale in the US.

2 Viagra Can Cause Prolonged Erection

Viagra is used to treat erectile dysfunction. So it should be no surprise that its side effects include priapism: prolonged erection.

Normally, the penis becomes erect because of blood flowing into the spongy tissue inside. The blood leaves after ejaculation. However, in rare instances, something stops blood from leaving the penis, causing priapism.

Priapism affects one in every 1,000 Viagra users and is more common among leukemia and sickle cell anemia patients. It is also more likely in people who’ve been administered Caverject, an injection used to treat erectile dysfunction. Because users may find it difficult to differentiate between a regular erection and an adverse reaction to Vigara, doctors categorize any erection that lasts for over four hours after taking Viagra as reason to seek medical attention.^[9]

1 A Number Of Drugs Can Make Users Blind

One of the worst drug side effects might be Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS). Stevens-Johnson syndrome causes the top layer of the skin and mucous membranes to peel off. This includes in sensitive areas like the eyes and the lungs. Having the top layer of the eyes peeled off is one of the easiest ways to go blind.

In one notable incident, 13-year-old Veronica Zenkner ended up with Stevens-Johnson syndrome after taking mere ibuprofen for a headache in 2004. It started with a fever and rash that spread from her neck and face to her back, arms, and throat within days. She ended up with toxic epidermal necrolysis, the worst form of SJS.

Zenkner had to be admitted to a burn facility and placed in a coma during treatment. She later went blind in her left eye, while the right eye remains red, itchy, and light-sensitive. She has to wear sunglasses all the time.

As terrible as this side effect sounds, it is not unique to ibuprofen. In fact, SJS can be caused by almost any drug. However, it is more common among users of drugs like penicillin, sulfonamides, naproxen, ibuprofen, and Lamictal (lamotrigine). In fact, the label on Lamictal warns that Stevens-Johnson syndrome is a possible side effect.^[10]

We often expect a drug prescription when we visit a doctor. However, physicians seem to be gradually shifting from solely recommending the use of medications to prescribing other unconventional things. These bizarre prescriptions could be issued alone or to supplement a medication or some other treatment.

These newer treatments include playing, cycling, singing, visiting museums, bird-watching, and even consuming alcohol. Cool! At least we may get a perfect excuse to miss work and do what we love at the same time. These prescriptions were all issued by real doctors and backed by state and even federal health departments, so they are not some fraudulent moneymaking scheme.

10 Guinness

Guinness has always been promoted for its health benefits because it contains several medicinal properties including antioxidant compounds that may prevent heart attacks. It also contains iron. A pint of Guinness contains 3 percent of the 19 mg per day iron requirement for an adult.

This is why Guinness used to be prescribed to pregnant women and patients recovering from surgery. Due to the beer’s iron content, free cans of Guinness are also given to Irish blood donors right after they donate blood. As if that’s not enough, Guinness also contains phytoestrogen, which improves mental abilities, prevents obesity, and makes bones denser.

Little wonder that Australian doctors prescribed Guinness for a patient in 2017. The patient was Dave Conway, an Irishman from Dublin—the home of Guinness. And what could be more Irish than a bottle of chilled Guinness Extra Stout?

Conway had ended up in the hospital after falling from a seven-story construction site in Brisbane, Australia. He landed on his feet, causing horrific injuries to his feet and body. He underwent 26 surgeries, which included amputations of both legs below the knee. Conway was learning to use a wheelchair when his doctors issued him a prescription for a pint of Guinness a day.^[1]

9 Playing

We would all agree that children nowadays don’t play as much as they did a few decades ago. This is probably because many parents erroneously believe that play is just another avenue for children to run around and get dirty. Besides, many children also prefer watching television these days instead of playing.

Physicians say that a lack of play is damaging to a child’s health because play is important for learning, creativity, reducing stress, and ensuring mental and all-around development. This is why the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advised physicians to regularly issue prescriptions for play for children.

AAP and the CDC advise a minimum of one hour of play per day and another hour of some other physical activity. However, doctors often write the prescriptions as “Play Every Day.”^[2] At least, children now have one more excuse to get dirty.

8 Cycling

You are not motivated to cycle often? Your doctor has got you covered. For example, doctors in Cardiff (UK) and Boston (US) are allowed to prescribe cycling to patients who are not getting enough exercise or need to lose weight.

Physicians will issue the prescription along with a membership card of the partner bike-sharing business where it will be redeemed. In Cardiff, the prescription is redeemed at nextbike free of charge. Physicians in either city are allowed to write six-months-long, 30-minutes-a-day cycling prescriptions for their patients.

In Boston, the prescription is redeemed at Blue Bikes (originally Hubway). Initially, Hubway charged $85 a year for its bike-sharing services. However, the prescription was worth $80 for low-income patients, who were responsible for paying the remaining $5.^[3]

7 Bird-Watching And Strolling By The Beach

In 2018, the National Health Service of Shetland, Scotland, revealed its plans to allow doctors to prescribe bird-watching to patients with chronic and debilitating diseases like diabetes, mental illness, and heart disease. Doctors can also write prescriptions for the patient to stroll by the beach or just wander around.

Patients issued a bird-watching prescription will receive a tour organized by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. They will also receive calendars and lists of walking routes complete with the birds and plants they could find on the way.

Patients who receive prescriptions to visit the beach will spend their time watching the seabirds or finding oyster shells in the sand. Alternatively, they could walk up the hills to watch the birds. During the winter, patients would be allowed to visit select locations where they could enjoy the strong ocean winds.^[4]

6 Gardening

In 2016, it was reported that the UK National Health Service (NHS) was considering offering gardening prescriptions to patients suffering from cancer, obesity, and a range of heart and mental problems, including dementia. According to the NHS, gardening and several other outdoor activities improve sleep and reduce loneliness, anxiety, stress, and depression.

Gardening also aids recovery, makes patients active, and gives them a sense of fulfillment. A study revealed that dementia patients near or in gardens were 19 percent less likely to resort to violence than those who did not visit gardens. In fact, at the time of the study, violence among dementia patients who did not visit gardens increased sevenfold.

Interestingly, the program was already in existence in areas like Bromley and Lambeth (both in London) at the time that the NHS was planning to make it nationwide. In Lambeth, the gardens were established on hospital grounds where patients spent their time growing food. They sold their harvests to the hospital, which used them to make meals for other patients.^[5]

5 Singing, Music, Sports, Arts, And Other Hobbies

The UK National Health Service is also contemplating allowing doctors to write music prescriptions for dementia patients. According to Matt Hancock, UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the plan was part of the government’s attempt to reduce the persistent problem of “over-medicalizing the population.”

The government reached the decision after observing that dementia patients who sang and listened to music appeared less distressed and took less medication. In another study organized by Hull’s stroke recovery service and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, almost 90 percent of stroke sufferers experienced improved health after they were treated to music therapy.

The stroke patients also suffered less dizziness and anxiety and fewer seizures. They slept and concentrated better than they used to and showed improved cognitive abilities. Physicians in Gloucestershire also prescribed singing to patients with lung problems.

Besides singing and music, UK doctors may prescribe sports, arts, and other hobbies of a patient as part of their treatment. Hancock mentioned that, by 2023, the NHS would allow doctors to prescribe “community activities” and related pastimes for patients suffering from loneliness.^[6]

4 Museum Visits

In 2018, new legislation allowed doctors in Montreal to prescribe museum visits for their patients. To make the experience sweeter, patients were issued free tickets and allowed to visit along with their friends, relatives, or caregivers. The program was launched in partnership with the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA).

According to Nathalie Bondil, the director of MMFA, the program will work because museum visits have a positive effect on the nervous system. Helene Boyer, the vice president of Medecins francophones du Canada (MdFC), added that a visit to the museum increased the secretion of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which boosts mood.

Boyer said that walking around the museum was equivalent to exercising for elderly people and for those suffering from chronic pain. She added that viewing art also had a positive effect on people suffering from potentially deadly conditions like cancer.^[7]

3 Electricity

Even in medical circles, doctors are often criticized for writing drug prescriptions for almost every medical condition under the Sun. This has become so normal that patients expect to receive medication prescriptions when they visit a doctor. Some patients even start to doubt a doctor’s credibility if this doesn’t happen.

Well! Doctors are slowly becoming aware that not all medical conditions require a drug prescription. Instead, patients could receive something as mundane as an electricity prescription for their health problems. This does not mean that doctors will have their staff administer huge jolts of electricity to their patients. Nope! The shocks are so weak that the patient will not feel them.

To be clear, the procedure is not available yet. However, scientists believe that it will work because the human body works on electricity. Our brains often send weak electrical signals to our nerves to order parts of our bodies to perform certain functions. This is the reason why nerve injuries often lead to paralysis—the paralyzed body part is unable to receive signals.

Scientists plan to send the signals from an electrical device implanted in the body. Besides managing nerve damage, scientists also intend to use it to treat other health conditions like diabetes and heart problems. This is achieved by using electrical signals to make the pancreas produce insulin or to increase or decrease the rate at which the heart beats.^[8]

2 Food

Not all patients need drugs. Some just need a perfect diet. However, they could not get food prescriptions until California doctors moved in to change that. Under the program, Food is Medicine, California doctors are allowed to issue prescriptions for food. There is a snag, though. The prescriptions are only planned for 1,000 poor patients suffering from congestive heart failure.

The program is based on a 2013 study by Philadelphia nonprofit Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance (MANNA). That year, the nonprofit gave three square meals and a snack to each of 65 patients suffering from congestive heart failure.

Twelve months later, the nonprofit discovered that the study group had spent less on health care than they used to do. Their average monthly medical costs also declined to $28,183 from $38,937 before the program.

Patients involved in the study also visited hospitals only half as much as the control group and had shorter stays at the hospital whenever they were admitted. They were also likelier than other patients to be sent home after receiving treatment rather than going to rehab or some other specialized treatment center.

The program probably worked because congestive heart disease patients often require specialized meals with low salt content to manage their conditions. However, they often find it difficult to get these meals because we have lots of high-salt meals like chips out there.^[9]

1 Park Visits

In 2015, the South Dakota Department of Health and the state’s Game, Fish and Parks Department launched a limited pilot program that allowed doctors to write prescriptions for park visits for their patients.

Patients who received the prescriptions randomly visited any park or recreation area owned by the state. A few other US cities have similar park prescription programs—for example, Baltimore, which calls it “Docs in the Park,” and Albuquerque, which calls it “Prescription Trails.”^[10]

Most of us are familiar with the dangers of illegal drugs. According to a report by Philadelphia drug rehab centers, along with the risk of addiction, severe health problems and other unwanted side effects, there is also the danger that a drug user will face punishment if caught. Depending on the drug and area, this punishment can involve anything from a warning to a lengthy jail sentence. But things weren’t always that way. Many drugs that are severely restricted today were once commonplace and completely legal. In fact, not only were these drugs available, they were actually recommended and promoted by healthcare professionals, often with unfortunate results. Here are ten of them:

10. Opium

Its usage is much older, but this form of dried juice from the opium poppy became popular in the United States during the 19^th Century. Back then, it was freely prescribed by doctors and even available at grocery stores. Chinese laborers had brought the practice of opium smoking to the West during the mid-nineteenth century, and laudanum, a solution of opium and alcohol, was also popular. Opium was often given to women to treat menstrual cramps and to infants to help with teething pain. Around the turn of the 20^th Century, most opium addicts were older women.

San Francisco first banned opium dens in 1875, and California restricted opium possession in 1907.  The 1914 Harrison Narcotics Tax Act effectively outlawed the drug throughout America. Today, drugs derived from the opium poppy, such as morphine and codeine, are legal but heavily restricted.

9. Marijuana

Usage of the cannabis plant, from which the psychoactive drug marijuana is derived, was unrestricted in America until the early twentieth century. In fact, in 1619 a Virginia law required farmers to grow native hemp on their plantations in order to produce textiles! Ironically, given its later reputation, the earliest state to ban the plant was California in 1913. Federal laws passed in 1937 restricted marijuana usage to the medicinal, and later laws in the 1950s introduced mandatory sentencing for possession, with the justification that marijuana was a ‘gateway drug’ into heavier narcotics. However, that hadn’t deterred researchers from finding the middle ground between the addictive nature of the drug and its medicinal properties. Not long after that did researchers discover that a derivative of marijuana, CBD, was not addictive and also had medicinal properties. Today, you can easily get a CBD flower for sale from many stores online.

Medical marijuana is now legal in over a dozen states, although still prohibited by federal law. The current administration has indicated that federal laws involving medical marijuana will not be enforced in these states. (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/13/national/main5154550.shtml)

8. Methamphetamine

Nowadays a popular target for public service announcements, methamphetamine was first created by a Japanese chemist in 1893. In 1944, it was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the US to treat a selection of medical conditions including narcolepsy, alcoholism, mild depression, and even seasonal allergies. By the 1950s, this legal medication had become popular under the name of Methedrine, but abuse had also become common. Passed in 1970, the Controlled Substances Act severely restricted its usage, although meth is still available under the name of Desoxyn for very limited uses.

Bad news for the congested: since the 1980s, there have also been strict crackdowns on several legal cold-and-flu drugs that can be used to produce methamphetamine, like ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. These previously over-the-counter medications now often require ID to purchase.

7. Peyote

Mescaline, a hallucinogenic chemical derived from the peyote cactus, has been used by Native American religious ceremonies for thousands of years. Peyote use was outlawed in several US states in the 1920s and 30s, but remained legal in most of the US throughout the 1960s and was often shipped interstate to interested parties.

Mescaline was restricted by Congress under the 1970 Controlled Substances Act. Currently, members of the federally-recognized Native American Church are exempt from criminal penalties for peyote use, as long as further state restrictions do not apply.

6. Cocaine

Many famous people of the early 20^th century, including Sigmund Freud and the Pope, were cocaine users. Although cocaine is derived from the coca plant, which has been in use for at least 3000 years, its modern incarnation only appeared around the 1860s. Available in many forms, including dissolved into wine, it was prescribed by doctors to treat depression and morphine addiction.

In America, it was popular as a treatment for coughs and pain, and was famously included in early versions of Coca-Cola. Although technically restricted by the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act in 1914, prosecution for cocaine usage was rare, and only became common after it was listed a controlled substance in 1970.

5. LSD

The psychedelic effects of LSD, or ‘acid’, were discovered by accident in 1943, after the Swiss scientist who invented the chemical accidentally absorbed some through his skin. During the 1950s the US Army, along with the CIA, researched the uses of LSD as a potential ‘truth drug’ for use in brainwashing. Their experiments involved giving LSD to everyone from CIA agents to prostitutes, and recording the results. Soon, psychiatrists also became interested in its potential therapeutic benefits. Although LSD was still being imported from Switzerland at this time, the drug’s formula could be purchased for a small sum from the US patent office, after which a user could synthesize LSD himself.

In 1966, after widespread abuse and ill-effects caused in part by people making the drug incorrectly, LSD was outlawed in California. In 1970, it was listed by Congress as a Schedule I substance, meaning it has no recognized medicinal or therapeutic uses.

4. GHB

Famous these days as a ‘date rape’ drug, GHB is a naturally-occurring neurochemical that produces a depressant, pain-relieving effect. A lab-made version was synthesized in the 1960s and was used widely in Europe as an anesthetic, particularly in childbirth. In the 1980s, it became popular among body builders as a legal sleep aid, and eventually as a legal recreational drug. After GHB became associated with abuse and accidental deaths, the FDA cracked down on its sale in 1990. It was not listed federally as a controlled substance (illegal to possess as well as to sell) until 2000 when, like LSD, it became a Schedule 1 drug. However, GHB has recently been approved as a heavily-controlled treatment for narcolepsy.

3. Magic Mushrooms

Also known as shrooms, magic mushrooms are fungi native to Asia and the Americas that contain psilocybin, a compound that produces an LSD-like effect in users. Magic mushrooms have been in use for millennia, but as recently as the early 20^th century Western academics were still arguing whether or not they existed. Use among Westerners was popularized in the 1950s after an article on the subject appeared in Life Magazine. In the 1960s, psychologist Timothy Leary and many others promoted these mushrooms for psychological use.

Possession of psilocybin-containing mushrooms was outlawed in 1968. However, since the mushroom spores do not contain psilocybin, spores are still legal in most states.

2. Ecstasy

MDMA, or ecstasy, was legal in the United States as recently as 1984. Synthesized and patented in 1912 by a chemist working for pharmaceutical company Merck, it was largely forgotten until the mid 1970s, when Berkeley professor Alexander Shulgin popularized it for use in psychotherapy. Shulgin claimed that it could help psychiatric patients achieve greater introspection and more openness with their therapists. Ecstasy also became popular in non-therapeutic settings, particularly nightclubs, and in 1985 was put under an ‘emergency ban’ and became a Schedule I controlled drug.

1. Heroin

First synthesized in 1874, heroin was first created as a non-addictive alternative to morphine. The word ‘heroin’ is actually a brand name created by the pharmaceutical company that invented it, Bayer. In the early 20^th century, it was also marketed in the US as a treatment for coughs and as a kind of old-fashioned methadone program for morphine users.

Unfortunately, the drug turned out to be more addictive than morphine. Heroin used to be legal, until it became apparent that it is more addictive than morphine, and can cause opiate withdrawal symptoms when its use is abruptly stopped. After hundreds of thousands of Americans saw their sore throats relieved only to be replaced with crippling addiction and long-term stays at a drug rehab program; heroin usage was severely restricted in the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914, and outlawed altogether in 1924.