Frank Dudley Beane's Experience with Ergot and Cannabis Indica (1884)
a day ago
- #drug literature
- #historical account
- #pharmaceutical endorsement
- Frank Dudley Beane, a New York physician, documented his intoxication experience with cannabis and ergot tinctures in an 1884 article.
- Suffering from neurasthenia, Beane took the tinctures to avoid opium or morphine, leading to symptoms like dizziness, muscle weakness, and a fear of death.
- He experienced hallucinations, including speeding through a dark tunnel, an out-of-body view of his corpse, and seeing a beautiful purplish light.
- After the trip, Beane felt hilarious exhalation and loss of self-control, unaware that hours had passed, with his wife noting he cried piteously.
- The article may serve as both drug literature and pharmaceutical trade literature, as Beane endorsed Parke Davis & Co., which was known for paid endorsements.
- Ergot research by Parke Davis later contributed to LSD synthesis, suggesting Beane's experience might have been a proto-LSD trip as well as a cannabis high.