The rules of drug taking: wine and poppy derivatives in the ancient world. I. General introduction.

Many believe that the public attitude toward psychotropic drugs is easy to change because it depends upon transient socioeconomic and cultural contingencies. This belief is here tested by analyzing literary sources on the use of wine and poppy derivatives in the Greek and Roman civilizations. As expected, the existence of elaborated myths about the discover of wine supports the view that wine drinking played an important social role in the ancient world. Contingencies in which drinking was considered illicit were carefully selected with the ultimate aim of maintaining sobriety. Rules of drinking were often enforced by law. This first part of the study lists drunkenness outcomes considered particularly harmful by the Ancients.