1869

“The introduction of chloral hydrate [chloroform + formic acid] in 1869 as the first synthetic compound used in mental health care marks the start of modern psychopharmacology” (Snelders et al., 98). The chemical was synthesized by Justus von Liebig as early as 1832 and research on its therapeutic use began in the 1860s (107). It was first tested on psychiatric patients, as was cannabis: “Chloral became famous because of the experiments of Oscar Liebreich on the inmates of the Charité asylum in Berlin, and on the patients of the medical faculty ward of his teacher Rudolf Virchow” (108). It was hailed as a wonder drug, first in Germany and then in Britain, France, and the Netherlands (110). I t still exists today (Noctec) in some countries (A. Jones, 339).