5 Times History was Determined by Drug Abuse

That Time Germany Got Stoned and Invaded Everyone (Blitzed, by Norman Ohler)
The Nazis were pretty bonkers in general, not to mention flat-out evil, but Ohler makes the case that they were also pretty much stoned the entire time—especially Hitler himself. The stimulants issued to the soldiers were more or less crystal meth (a pretty common practice, and one shared by the U.S. army to this day—though it’s much more heavily policed now), but the top Nazis were the ones who consumed the truly awe-inspiring amount of stimulants and euphorics—Ohler even speculates that rather than suffering from Parkinson’s disease, Hitler’s erratic behavior and frail appearance towards the end of the war were due to withdrawal symptoms after the Allies bombed the factory manufacturing his pills.

That Time the Roman Emperor was Addicted to Opium (Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius)
Being Roman Emperor back in the 2nd century was a pretty big deal, considering you directly ruled most of the known world, and what little you didn’t rule usually deferred to you. Marcus Aurelius is regarded as a strong emperor, and a major philosophical thinker—his Meditations remain a must-read primer on stoicism. It’s also very possible that Aurelius spent the last years of his life addicted to opium, prescribed to him by Galen, the most famous physician of his day. There aren’t any records to prove it one way or another, but we know for certain that Galen prescribed opium to the emperor, and there was speculation even at the time that Aurelius was a little too fond of his insomnia cure. We’re not saying that Roman Empire began it’s steep decline because Marcus Aurelius got the nods, but it couldn’t have helped.

That Time Dr. Feelgood Treated the President of the United States (Dr. Feelgood, by Richard A. Lertzman and William J. Birnes)
President Kennedy projected an aura of youth and health, but behind closed doors, he was a mess. He suffered from the adrenal gland disorder Addison’s Disease, had a bad back that required two surgeries, and was frequently ill. This all a way of saying that our 35th president took a lot of drugs. Some of them were absolutely for his various ailments, but when he met Dr. Max Jacobson—the man who earned himself the name Dr. Feelgood for the pills he freely distributed to celebrities—he began taking amphetamines in a cocktail that also included vitamins and an ever-changing list of ingredients. Jacobson became a fixture at the White House, and frequently met with Kennedy to administer “treatments,” until an intervention led by Kennedy’s other physicians booted him. We may never know how Jacobson’s “doctoring” affected the course of U.S. history—but we can imagine.

That Time the Entire U.S. Army was on Drugs (The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien)
As mentioned, it remains common for modern armies to march into battle on warm waves of stimulants. Up until the late 1960s, the U.S. Army gave out amphetamines in one form or another pretty freely, and in World War II, German soldiers often went for days marching on the power of their drugs. But the Vietnam War also produced an entire generation of drug addicts; heroin was so cheap and easy to find in Vietnam, and the horrors of the war so intense, that it’s estimated about 15 percent of the army came home addicted to smack. It’s not hard to trace the ripple effects to Nixon’s war on drugs, the heroin epidemic of the 1970s, and the crime and urban decline that resulted.

That Time Viking Warriors Ate Mushrooms and Wore Bear Coats (Shooting Up, by Lukasz Kamienski)
“Berserker” is a fun word. It’s modern meaning—fighting without concern for your personal safety—stems from the old Norse word berserkr, referring to ancient Viking warrior who fought without armor, wearing just bearskins (ber, “bear” and serkr, “shirt”). That’s pretty impressive, but you should also know they probably—definitely—ate psychedelics before battle in order to get into the proper mindset to wade into a wave of murderous men. While the berserkers were renowned and celebrated, and the Vikings were terrifying opponents, there might be a connection between a culture of undefended warriors stoned out of their minds, and the fact that the Vikings are no more.