10 Ancient Drug Epidemics That Erased Entire Civilizations | 49:53
Health with Henry | 99,530 views | June 29, 2026
Posted on 07/18/2026 9:30:25 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
10 Ancient Drug Epidemics That Erased Entire Civilizations | 49:53
Health with Henry | 99,530 views | June 29, 2026
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YouTube transcript reformatted at textformatter.ai *may* follow.
The weekly digest list of topics will soon appear down below.
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Don’t do drugs.
It is the only way to avoid an addiction.
I think the moral of this story is,... Humans self medicate and they always have. Good luck with future drug wars.
Thanks for the summary.
Drugs can destroy civilizations, so my years of ranting about drug use (Marijuana=gateway) are justified.
Vietnam-era Marijuana put the US on the pathway to Leftism, whose effects have produced today’s profound cultural divisions.
I was made to wait an hour at an attorney’s office with a stenographer. After 15 minutes of silence, the stenographer told me the attorney met her boyfriend every afternoon for a cocaine session. She went on to say, “I’m of Cuban heritage, but I don’t do drugs.” That admission drove me to realize how very rampant cocaine-use was in Miami, and like Communism, a drain on our economy and a poison spread throughout our collective psyche.
During Vietnam, the U.S. Navy rejected marijuana users from Top Secret access. I was fortunate to have a successful and productive stint while serving—surrounded by like-minded Patriots with whom I still meet after 56 years.
The other GGG topics added since the previous digest ping, alpha:
Since knee replacement surgery, I’ve gone on and off and on again with pain med’s. My other knee is the problem now, with which I used to favor what is now my good knee. On average, I’m taking much less than the prescribed amount. It’s a synthetic opiate I’m using for moderate osteoarthritis. The maximum recommended daily amount is 2.7x more than what I use.
The surgery I had was almost 4 years ago. I don’t need these med’s every day or even every three or four days and through all of this, my alcohol intake has dropped 20-fold. I have NEVER mixed alcohol with any pain medication.
I’ll admit to experiencing mild withdrawal symptoms following my physical rehab but that is typical of patients who’ve undergone complete arthroplasty as I had. I live alone and don’t need anyone to keep an eye on my use of these pain med’s because I’m not struggling to avoid addiction. I don’t lie to my PCP because I don’t have to.
No, it is not a foregone conclusion that if you use “drugs”, you WILL become addicted. In my case, the worst of the side-effects is occasional constipation and I can mitigate it with a mild laxative and/or dietary choices. My weight fluctuates by +/- 3 to 4 pounds and that’s not too bad for somebody like me (pushing 70 now).
Because of the stigma associated with pain med’s like this, I feel I have to keep it all under my hat so that people don’t take it upon themselves to assume too much.
Not everybody gets addicted, to be sure.
I simply said the only sure way of not becoming addicted is to not do the stuff in the first place. It’s your only sure protection.
I certainly don’t have a the answers to your situation, except perhaps to put up with a bit knee pain, whild choosing pain killers that run a minimal risk of addiction. Only your doctor knows for sure. :)
When I got my wisdom teeth pulled, I relied on Extra-Strength Advil gel tablets. Until the pain became bearable, I popped them in frequently.
“During Vietnam, the U.S. Navy rejected marijuana users from Top Secret access”
I recall this also, only I was in the US Army Security Agency where everyone had a TS/C. Get caught with dope and you were “sent DA”, meaning transferred to the Department Of Army. Since their MOS’s were intel related Army units had little use for them other than making infantryman out of them. Without the infantry training they were mostly dead meat. One guy was dead a week after he was kicked out.
“During Vietnam, the U.S. Navy rejected marijuana users from Top Secret access”
I recall this also, only I was in the US Army Security Agency where everyone had a TS/C. Get caught with dope and you were “sent DA”, meaning transferred to the Department Of Army. Since their MOS’s were intel related Army units had little use for them other than making infantryman out of them. Without the infantry training they were mostly dead meat. One guy was dead a week after he was kicked out.
Felt like I was being lied to about 1 drug (that I did stop using anyways - felt pressured by peers and chronic fatigue)
So I asked GROK:
No — there are no known ancient civilizations that went out of existence due to marijuana (cannabis) use alone.
Quick Context
Cannabis has been used by humans for thousands of years (evidence from China ~8,000+ years ago, India, Middle East, Africa, etc.).
It was typically used for fiber (hemp), medicine, rituals, or mild recreation.
No historical record shows any society collapsing primarily because of marijuana.
Why This Is Unlikely
Marijuana is not physically addictive like opioids or alcohol, and it doesn’t cause the kind of societal breakdown (violence, economic collapse, mass health crises) associated with harder substances.
Ancient civilizations that declined or fell did so due to combinations of: War / invasion
Environmental changes (drought, soil exhaustion)
Economic collapse
Disease / plague
Internal political corruption
Bottom line: No civilization has ever collapsed “due to marijuana only.” Claims like that are usually modern myths or exaggerations.
Yes, humans self medicate and always have. Some, perhaps many, become addicted.
But what is relatively new is a welfare state that systematically subsidizes the self-incapacitated. Government has beome the great enabler. And because of certain unfortunate social correlates, government sometimes steps in — in the name of inclusivity and social justice — to prevent employers from screening out the addicted.
A lot of our social problems would self-correct if we simply abolished the welfare state and returned to absolute employment at will.
File that under "denial isn't just a river in Egypt." Cannabis is addictive, but it hangs around in the system so there is no withdrawal.
When an Etruscan couple could afford that, they didn’t have a problem (or “a problem yet”).
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