Skip to main content

The timeline can be navigated with the “Scroll Left” and “Scroll Right” buttons or by dragging the pointer to a date on the timeline waveform (located at the bottom of the screen on the desktop version and on the left of the screen on mobile). To filter by a particular topic and see a smaller section of the data, make a selection on the dropdown “Filters” menu or click “Search” to do a keyword search. Hover over the abbreviated filter tags in the blue boxes to see the complete name of the filter, or click a filter to display all the data with this tag. If you want to take a deeper dive into a specific topic by viewing a narrative essay page and a curated timeline, click on “Stories.”

Read More

Rise in prescriptions and addictions to barbiturates.

1950

DRUG
PHA
PH
POV

By the 1950s, prescriptions for barbiturates (powerful sedatives) skyrocket, where fifty doses are sold annually for every man, woman, and child in the U.S.

Attempts to reduce prescriptions ensue, but they largely frame addiction as a stigmatized and racialized issue of the lower classes, ignoring the prevalence of dependence and addiction among the middle and upper classes. In 1953, fatal overdoses from barbiturates alone will kill a higher percentage of Americans than prescription opioids will in 2014.