The story of the pharma giant and the African yam
In the 1950s, the African yam was exploited by drugs firm Boots to produce cortisone. But South Africans fought back against the plundering of a plant that they used for traditional healing.
Primary Results
Medical waste offers insights into South Africa’s use of pharmaceuticals
The pharmaceutical waste from Buffalo City dump sites reveals that the sale of over-the-counter drugs remains vastly unregulated and under-researched.
Secret histories of drugs – legal and illegal – in southern Africa
From colonial poppy fields to pharmatrash, southern Africa offers a fascinating history of drug regimes – one that helps us make sense of drug policies and legislation today.
Cannabis in South Africa: the duplicity of colonial authorities
There are two histories of dagga in South Africa - the one of criminalising it and the other of the state trying to make money off it.
A history of how sedatives took hold in white South Africa
Sedatives contributed to a pharmaceutical revolution in South Africa in the divided 1950s, especially among white users.
The highs and lows of the opium trade in southern Africa
Opium played a fascinating role in southern African colonial politics, conflict and social change - from the poppy fields of Mozambique to the early days of Johannesburg city.
Secondary Results
