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Page:Drug Themes in Science Fiction (Research Issues 9).djvu/27

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Author: Gatter, George F.
Title: Emotion gas
Journal: Wonder Stories, Vol. 7, No. 8, 967-971
Publisher: Continental Publications, New York
Date: April 1936
Format: Short story
Descriptors: Drugs as mind-controllers; Drugs as euphorics
Annotation:Unscrupulous theatrical producers enhance the box-office appeal of their comedy by surreptitiously dosing the audience with a gas that induces euphoria; they leave convinced they have seen an extraordinarily funny show, and business booms, until one night an overdose is given that amplifies not only happy feelings but passing moments of depression, causing everybody to leave in a black despondent mood that kills the show.




Author: Coblentz, Stanton A.
Title: The glowworm flower
Journal: Astounding Stories, Vol. 17, No. 4, 22-29
Publisher: Street & Smith Publications, New York
Date: June 1936
Format: Short story
Descriptor: Drugs as euphorics
Annotation:A pioneering space exploration voyage brings back, by accident, spores of an extraterrestrial plant that sprouts on Earth. The flower of this plant gives off a fragrance that induces intoxication, coma, and opium-like visions. Tripping on glowworm-flower fragrance becomes addictive for many of Earth's finest minds, though lesser folk are relatively immune. The plant is eradicated everywhere, possession of it is made illegal, and all space missions are banned lest spaceships again be contaminated with the sinister spores.






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