TIL The first man to finish the 1904 Olympic marathon rode in a car half the race. The actual winner had to be carried across the finish line after his coaches gave him a mix of brandy, eggs and strychnine. 4th place stole 2 peaches from a spectator, ate rotten apples from an orchard and took a nap.
I suggest you to watch the series Murdoch Mysteries. It passes in the late 1890s and beginning of 1900s. Sometimes they make jokes with this, with people taking heroin and cocaine as medicine. It’s quite funny knowing the history of these drugs.
I will have to check it out.
I don’t know if it was joked about. I remember an episode about the serious consequences of the inspector getting hooked on rubbing cocaine on his gums and the addiction surrounding it
Cocaine does get used as a topical medicine in some cases
Both of those are medicines and still used as such today