Has Cocaine always been illegal

Answer 1

No. It was made illegal in the United States in 1914, and from then on it was outlawed around the world. Before then, cocaine was prescribed by doctors for a wide variety of ailments, including -- but not limited to -- the common cold, sinus infections, toothaches, chronic fatigue or exhaustion, depression, impotence, and morphine addiction. It was even available as an over-the-counter medication.

For centuries, South American natives like the Incas had been chewing the leaves of the coca plant, for medicinal purposes and to help keep them energized on long journeys. The Spanish conquistadors brought coca back to the Old World with them, and in 1859, scientists isolated the active ingredient in the coca plant and made it into powder or liquid cocaine.

At first, it was considered a miracle drug. Sigmund Freud was extremely fond of it, as was Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional character, Sherlock Holmes. It was even mixed into other products, such as wine, cigarettes, and, most famously, Coca-Cola. It wasn't until around the turn of the century that people began to notice how dangerous cocaine was. As the number of people addicted to cocaine, and the number of people dead from cocaine, continued to rise, so did public pressure to ban the drug. Finally, in 1914, it was outlawed.