TV Guide

Set your TIVOs if you have them or if you're like me and barely have a working TV, make note. These two programs on the History channel look interesting.

Saturday, May 27, 2006
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8-9pm -- History Alive - Cocaine.
Derived from South America's coca leaf, cocaine was
touted as a cure-all in the late 19th century and was
the secret ingredient in many medicines and elixirs
such as Coca-Cola. But cocaine's allure quickly
diminished as racism entered the picture--the concept
of the "cocaine-crazed Negro" even led police to
strengthen the caliber of their guns from .32 to .38.
We'll see how, though it was outlawed in 1914, its
popularity soared in the 1980s and '90s and gave birth
to a deadlier form--crack.

9-10pm -- History Alive - Marijuana.
In a series investigating the history of drug use, we
begin our trip tracing the rise of marijuana and
synthetic amphetamines. Marijuana, from the Indian
hemp plant, has been used worldwide as a source of
rope, cloth, and paper; its medicinal qualities were
first documented 4,000 years ago in China. But it's
best known as the drug of choice of the 1960s. During
WWII, US troops were given an estimated 200 million
amphetamines to fight drowsiness and battle fatigue,
and they're still used to fight depression.

I hope I still get that station. The cable company has my service in such a mess, I don't know what I get outside of the weather channel.

[hat tip Jay R]