This is backstory. I'm Peter Onough.

When Americans first encountered cocaine in the late 19th century,

it was seen as a pick me up for the well-off.

Cocaine infused drinks like Coca-Cola, marketed themselves as virtuous alternatives to alcohol.

The idea would be that while everybody else was kind of getting sozzled in taverns,

then smart, urban Coca-Cola drinker was staying sharp and taking care of business.

Cocaine's image took a turn for the worse in the early 20th century,

but there were other wonder drugs waiting in the wings, psychedelics, hemphetamines,

and especially for women that were tranquilizers.

They would say, you know, these things they'll cure you if you're feeling sad,

they'll bring you down if you're feeling too up. They'll cure juvenile delinquency.

They'll help you want to have sex with your husband again.

It'll help you feel happy at work. It'll make the dishes look great.

Today on the show, Americans changing attitudes about drugs.

Major funding for backstory is provided by the ShiaCon Foundation,

the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation,

and the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.

From the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, this is backstory with the American History Guide.

Welcome to the show. I'm Brian Bello, here with fellow History Guides, Peter Onif,

and Ed Ayers. Hey, and we have a letter here written by a Colorado newspaper editor,

dated September 4th, 1936. Ed, why don't you read it for us?

Gentlemen, two weeks ago, a sex mad degenerate named Lee Fernandez brutally attacked a young Alamosa girl.

...