A Little Cocaine to Loosen My Tongue

In the 1880s, Freud discovered cocaine and became enthusiastic about what was
not yet considered a party drug. Favoring the use of cocaine in the treatment
of neurasthenia, as an energizer, or as an anesthetic, Freud made a creative
and fashionable use of it, heralding practices that our society knows well.
Several surprising texts are gathered here on cocaine. Freud recounts the use
of coca in history, particularly in South America, from where it was imported.
In Cocaine Addiction and Cocaine Phobia, the inventor of psychoanalysis
defended coca against its accusers as a dangerous product. Finally, in the
letters to Martha Bernays, his future wife, we discover an intimate and loving
Freud, telling how he escaped boring dinners thanks to his dear magic
substance.