DRUGS!!!

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Rick France – Drugs!!!!

‘One of our own’…Rick, who transferred into our club last year, having moved into North Tyneside, gave us an informed talk on the use of ‘Drugs’ in our lives…..starting with Shakespeare?.....who apparently made regular references to drugs in his writings, from the local hedgerows to create his own illusions, who’d have thought??

So where did it all start? well, one aspect, caffeine, was apparently discovered by Ethiopian shepherds who realised that their goat herds liked coffee beans, and how after consumption, they became over stimulated and ‘frisky!!’ – caffeine, the stimulant drug we use to keep us going.
Today it is acceptable, but other stimulants or hallucinogenic drugs, whether from the hedgerows or not, are generally not acceptable, but it’s amazing how many of them have found their way into our society and daily use.

Rick then went on to tell us a whole host of facts and figures relating to ‘drugs’ in our everyday lives, many of which came as a surprise to many of us.
For instance, Pepsi had twice as much caffeine as Coca Cola……25gs of chocolate would kill a dog....Quinine comes from the bark of a South American tree – Cinchona…..Opium, a native of the Middle East, has been growing there for years, (and in our own back gardens), which when consumed was hallucinogenic, but the seeds were rich in Codeine……but Aspirin, (like Codeine), comes from the bark of Willow Trees….. Paracetamol is ‘softer’ than Aspirin, and Ibuprofen, with its anti-inflammatory aspects, is 20 times stronger than Paracetamol, …..Fentanyl is 100 times more powerful than Morphine and apparently over 70,000 people in the USA died from taking it last year……and in 1938 LSD was synthesised to help schizophrenics, with the seeds coming from a plant called Morning Glory!!
And so it went on……. fascinating stuff.

The evening finished with Ken giving a ‘hazy, but not drug induced’ vote of thanks!!!


If you would like to know more about our Rotary Club please do not hesitate to contact us through or Website, Facebook or telephone – 07419 736989.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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