People as far back as the 1600s were using cocaine, chewing on the leaves of the coca plant “for recreational purposes.”
Researchers examined the human remains of the Ca’ Granda crypt in Milan, located underneath the Church of the Beata Vergine Annunciata. It was there that bodies of patients from the “pioneering hospital” Ospedale Maggiore — which “specialized in the medical treatment of acute illnesses among impoverished and disadvantaged individuals residing in the city” — were interned, researched published in the Journal of Archaeological Sciences says.
“Toxicological analyses performed on preserved brain tissues revealed the presence of the compounds of cocaine, benzoylecgonine, and hygrine in two cases,” the research says.
Nicolo Filippo Rosso/Bloomberg
Cocaine can degrade into benzoylecgonine,…
