Editing Laudanum (section)

=== 20th century ===
Laudanum was used in home remedies and prescriptions, as well as a single medication. For example, a 1901 medical book published for home health use gave the following two "Simple Remedy Formulas" for "dysenterry"{{sic}}: (1) Thin boiled starch, 2 ounces; Laudanum, 20 drops; "Use as an injection [meaning as an [[enema]]] every six to twelve hours"; (2) Tincture rhubarb, 1 ounce; Laudanum 4 [[Dram (unit)|drachms]]; "Dose: One teaspoonful every three hours." In a section entitled "Professional Prescriptions" is a formula for "diarrhoea (acute)": Tincture opium, deodorized, 15 drops; Subnitrate of bismuth, 2 drachms; Simple syrup, {{1/2}} ounce; Chalk mixture, 1{{1/2}} ounces, "A teaspoonful every two or three hours to a child one year old." "Diarrhoea (chronic)": Aqueous extract of ergot, 20 grains; Extract of nux vomica, 5 grains; Extract of Opium, 10 grains, "Make 20 pills. Take one pill every three or four hours."<ref>{{cite book |title=Medicology or Home Encyclopedia of Health |vauthors=Richardson JG |date=1901 |publisher=University Medical Society |location=New York, Philadelphia and London |pages=1276 and 1282}}</ref>

The early 20th century brought increased regulation of all manner of narcotics, including laudanum, as the addictive properties of opium became more widely understood, and "patent medicines came under fire, largely because of their mysterious compositions".<ref name="Hodgson_2001" />{{rp|126}} In the US, the [[Food and Drug Act of 1906]] required that certain specified drugs, including alcohol, [[cocaine]], [[heroin]], [[morphine]], and [[cannabis]], be accurately labeled with contents and dosage. Previously many drugs had been sold as patent medicines with secret ingredients or misleading labels. Cocaine, heroin, cannabis, and other such drugs continued to be legally available without prescription as long as they were labeled. It is estimated that sale of patent medicines containing opiates decreased by 33% after labeling was mandated.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7VrQy2d8PxYC | vauthors = Musto DF |author-link=David F. Musto|year= 1999|edition=3rd|title=The American Disease: Origins of Narcotic Control|publisher= [[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=9780198028925}}</ref> In 1906 in Britain and in 1908 in [[Canada]] "laws requiring disclosure of ingredients and limitation of narcotic content were instituted".<ref name="Hodgson_2001" />{{rp|126}}

The [[Harrison Narcotics Tax Act]] of 1914 restricted the manufacture and distribution of opiates, including laudanum, and [[coca leaf|coca]] derivatives in the US. This was followed by France's ''{{lang|fr|Loi des stupéfiants}}'' in 1916, and Britain's Dangerous Drugs Act in 1920.<ref name = "Hodgson_2001" />{{rp|126}}

Laudanum was supplied to druggists and physicians in regular and concentrated versions. For example, in 1915, Frank S. Betz Co., a medical supply company in Hammond, Indiana, advertised Tincture of Opium, U.S.P., for $2.90 per lb., Tincture of Opium Camphorated, U.S.P, for 85 cents per lb., and Tincture of Opium Deodorized, for $2.85 per lb.<ref>{{cite report | publisher = Frank S. Betz Co. | date = 1915 | title = Catalog No. N-15 | edition = Second | location = Hammond, Indiana, USA | page = 320 }}</ref> Four versions of opium as a fluid extract were also offered: (1) Opium, Concentrated (assayed) "For making Tincture Opii (Laudanum) U.S.P. Four times the strength of the regular U.S.P." tincture, for $9.35 per pint; (2) Opium, Camphorated Conc. "1 oz. making 8 ozs. Tr. Opii Camphorated U.S.P (Paregoric)" for $2.00 per pint; (3) Opium, Concentrated (Deodorized and Denarcotized) "Four times the strength of tincture, Used when Tinct. Opii U.S.P. is contraindicated" for $9.50 per pint, and (4) Opium (Aqueous), U.S.P., 1890, "Tr. (assayed) Papaver Somniferum" for $2.25 per pint.<ref>{{cite report | publisher = Frank S. Betz Co. | date = 1915 | title = Catalog No. N-15 | edition = Second | location = Hammond, Indiana, USA | page = 318 }}</ref>

In 1929–30, Parke, Davis & Co., a major US drug manufacturer based in Detroit, Michigan, sold "Opium, U.S.P. (Laudanum)", as Tincture No. 23, for $10.80 per pint (16 fluid ounces), and "Opium Camphorated, U.S.P. (Paregoric)", as Tincture No. 20, for $2.20 per pint. Concentrated versions were available. "Opium Camphorated, for U.S.P. Tincture: Liquid No. 338" was "exactly 8 ''times the strength of Tincture Opium Camphorated (Paregoric)'' [italics in original], U.S.P., "designed for preparing the tincture by direct dilution," and cost $7 per pint. Similarly, at a cost of $36 per pint, "Opium Concentrated, for U.S.P. Tincture: Liquid No. 336", was "four times the strength of the official tincture", and "designed for the extemporaneous preparation of the tincture".<ref>{{cite report | date = 1929–1930 | title = Physicians' Catalog of the Pharmaceutical and Biological Products of Parke, Davis & Company | pages = 87–88 }}</ref> The catalog also noted: "For quarter-pint bottles add 80c. per pint to the price given for pints."

Toward the middle 20th century, the use of opiates was generally limited to the treatment of pain, and opium was no longer a medically accepted 'cure-all'. Further, the pharmaceutical industry began synthesizing various [[opioid]]s, such as [[propoxyphene]], [[oxymorphone]] and [[oxycodone]]. These synthetic opioids, along with [[codeine]] and [[morphine]] were preferable to laudanum since a single opioid could be prescribed for different types of pain rather than the 'cocktail of laudanum, which contains nearly all of the opium alkaloids. Consequently, laudanum became mostly obsolete as an [[analgesic]], since its principal ingredient is [[morphine]], which can be prescribed by itself to treat pain. Until now, there has been no medical consensus on which of the two (laudanum or morphine alone) is the better choice for treating pain.

In 1970, the US adopted the [[Uniform Controlled Substances Act]], which regulated opium tincture (Laudanum) as a [[Controlled Substances Act#Schedule II controlled substances|Schedule II]] substance (currently DEA #9630),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/scheduling.html | title = List of Controlled Substances | work = Office of Diversion Control | publisher = Drug Enforcement Administration, United States Department of Justice | quote = Also under Schedule II are opium extracts, opium fluidextract, opium poppy (''Papaver somniferum''), granulated opium, powdered opium, and raw or gum opium, each with an individual DEA number.|access-date=August 1, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130629153729/http://www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/scheduling.html|archive-date=June 29, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> placing even tighter controls on the drug.

By the late 20th century, laudanum's use was almost exclusively confined to treating severe [[diarrhea]].