Hot Messes of Hollywood
Before he was the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist Tony Stark, this actor had highly publicized struggles with drugs in the 1990s; he has now been sober for over two decades and wields a different kind of power.
Who is Robert Downey Jr.?
This psychoactive plant, which contains mescaline, has been used ceremonially by Indigenous tribes in North America for thousands of years and is categorized by law enforcement as a hallucinogen.
What is Peyote?
Cultivated in the Andes for thousands of years, these leaves were used by the Incas for energy and altitude sickness long before they were refined into a modern addictive drug.
What are coca leaves?
The highly addictive drug that British merchants smuggled into China to balance their massive trade deficit.
What is Opium?
During the economic collapse of the 1990s, some Russian teachers and workers were actually paid in this bottled commodity instead of worthless "wooden" rubles.
What is vodka?
This former Disney star traded her pop-sensation image for honesty, detailing her 2018 near-fatal overdose and recovery journey in the documentary Dancing with the Devil.
Who is Demi Lovato?
Originally used by traders to test the flammability or purity of distilled spirits, this slang term came to describe the high-proof liquor traded to Native Americans.
What is firewater?
This naturally occurring plant compound was used as a religious sacrament in Mesoamerica and North America for thousands of years. Today, its legal use is heavily protected for members of the Native American Church.
What is peyote?
In 1971, this U.S. president officially declared a "War on Drugs" and named drug abuse "public enemy number one".
Who is Richard Nixon?
South Korea's bustling capital city boasts more of this Seattle-based coffee giant's locations than any other city in the world.
What is Starbucks?
We could say this The Hangover star's performance imitated life; he completely turned his life around, giving up alcohol and opioids when he was 29.
Who is Bradley Cooper?
The official DEA slang term for this highly potent synthetic opioid—which is 50 times stronger than heroin—is "Apache".
What is Fentanyl?
While widely associated with recreational addiction today, this plant was originally treated with deep respect as a sacred medicine and ceremonial offering by tribes like the Dakota (caŋsasa) and Anishinaabe (asemaa).
What is tobacco?
The two major empires that fought against China during the First and Second Opium Wars.
Who are Great Britain and France?
This Wisconsin city, famous for its sprawling beer gardens and brewing history, perennially tops the list as the "drunkest city in America."
What is Milwaukee?
Playing the Boy Who Lived came with immense pressure for this actor, who famously consumed a significant amount of alcohol on set during the final three Harry Potter films before getting sober in 2010.
Who is Daniel Radcliffe?
What is God's flesh?
Largely unknown in North America prior to European contact, the introduction of this substance became a major driver of cultural disruption, historical trauma, and disproportionately high addiction and mortality rates on reservations.
What is alcohol?
This island territory was seized by British naval forces early in the Opium Wars conflict.
What is Hong Kong?
Consuming over 400 cups a year per person, This city is South Korea’s largest metropolis - it is so caffeinated it holds the title for the most cafes per capita.
What is Seoul?
This English music legend and Oscar-winning Rocketman subject battled a massive cocaine and alcohol addiction before getting clean in 1990 and founding a prominent AIDS foundation.
Who is Elton John?
In tribal regions, a common term for illegally diverted or crushed forms of this prescription pain medication is "Hillbilly Heroin".
What is Oxycodone?
Indigenous Amazonian tribes refer to Banisteriopsis caapi by this term, which translates to "vine of the soul" or "vine of the dead."
What is Ayahuasca?
The illicit funding and logistical backing for the 1980 coup came largely from the lucrative trade of this illicit substance, harvested from the Andes.
What is cocaine?
Rampant alcoholism from the abuse of vodka severely crippled this country's labor productivity, prompting Mikhail Gorbachev to launch an ill-fated anti-alcohol campaign in 1985.
What is Russia?
This Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings actor was famously open about his decades-long battle with the bottle—including a stint at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation in Center City—proving that recovery is possible.
Who is Dominic Monaghan?
Indigenous to Southeast Asia, the leaves of this tropical tree contain psychoactive alkaloids like mitragynine and have been used for centuries by indigenous farmers as a mild stimulant to combat fatigue. They call it biak-biak in Malaysia.
What is Kratom?
This is braided and burned to attract positive healing spirits and good energy.
What is sweetgrass?
Pliny the Elder and other Roman authors feared this ancient beverage, when consumed in excess, would damage the social order of the Republic.
What is wine?
Outside of Wisconsin, this city famously came in second on Insider Monkey’s ranking of U.S. cities with the highest alcohol consumption per capita.
What is Minneapolis?