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Addiction

Addiction to alcohol, nicotine and narcotic drugs remains one of the most serious problems affecting society. Over the years, many products have been touted as effective and reliable cures; and ephemera for such singular remedies as No-To-Bac, Alcola, the Hindoo Tobacco Habit Cure and the Magno Mud Cure remain as evidence of their failure. But effective agents such as the prescription drug Antabuse, a postcard for which is displayed, and to some extent, the Keeley Cure, a forerunner of certain measures adopted by Alcoholics Anonymous are also represented. The Keeley Cure, a system of treatment which relied heavily on injections of Bichloride of Gold (a chemical impossibility) was so well-known in its day, that several popular songs, such as an Irish comic song, entitled "The Keeley Cure," parodied it unmercifully.

Such popularity also was achieved by products which contained narcotic ingredients, including Vin Mariani, incorporating the active principle of the coca leaf, and Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup, a remedy for children which contained morphine.