The 11th-century Persian scientist Avicenna, who died from an overdose of opium in 1037 (this was the first death case noted in history), was one

There were also detractors of coffee, but they always remained in the minority. Many blamed him for the death of French Minister Colbert, who died

The importation of chocolate into Europe is almost the very tail of the fashion for caffeine stimulation that began during the industrial revolution. Chocolate made

Not many plants can claim such complex and closely intertwined relationships with people, such as opium poppy and tobacco. Both plants play a major role

What do we learn from comparing these two plants? Both have a long history of consumption, both contribute to addiction and are extremely destructive, and

Tobacco is a natural plant for the New World, and so is the custom of smoking plant materials to achieve the narcotic effects of them.

Poppy seeds are tasty and non-psychoactive food, as all lovers of buns with poppy seeds can confirm. But if an immature seed box is incised with

Only in Paracelsus, the famous father of chemotherapy, can we trace the revival of interest in opium. The great Swiss alchemist of the 16th century,