On this day, 128 years ago, August 21, 1897 (July 24, 1897 in the lunar calendar), heroin came out. On August 21, 1897, Bayer chemist Felix Hoffman synthesized a substance called diacetylmorphine in the laboratory. The analgesic effect is much higher than morphine (he had just successfully made aspirin into medicine on the 11th days ago). Heroin's name is registered by Bayer Pharmaceuticals, and the word may be derived from the German word heroisch, meaning hero. His bosses were overjoyed, and they thought it could replace the addictive painkiller morphine. After it was confirmed that some fish, seahorses and cats used in the experiment could still survive after swallowing these drugs, the company's family members, including children, also began to try taking them, but they did not kill people and no one became addicted. So less than a year after synthesis, the company launched it without conducting thorough clinical trials. Bayer bosses thought the invention of the substance was a "heroic" act, so they took the name ("heroin" means "hero" in German). The next story comes to the most ridiculous page in the history of drugs. Until the 1930s, Bayer was still selling high-purity brand-name heroin. Around the world, this powerful and versatile drug is cheered, and thousands of patients compete to take it. It was a long time before it gradually became regarded as a demonic drug. From 1898 to 1910, when the drug was marketed, it was advertised as non-addictive morphine. It was even used as a cough medicine for children. Later, it was discovered that the drug would be converted into morphine in the liver, which greatly embarrassed Bayer Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. In his writings, Michel de Riedel tells the story of the advent, launch and ultimate decline of heroin as a drug. Riddle describes a surprising era when the world seemed upside down and everyone was fanatical. In these "good old days", Germany was the world's largest heroin producer. "Heroin is a really good business," Bayer's presidents proudly said. Most doctors praise it as a high-quality, safe drug with magical effects that can relieve cough, relieve pain and treat all other ailments. Heroin consumers, from infants, adults to the elderly, are all consumers. It is taken in the form of a powder, mixture or suppositories, and women also use tampons containing heroin. Heroin is everywhere-you don't have to take risks and commit crimes to get it, and Bayer's heroin is well stocked in pharmacies. Instead of being concealed and wrapped in small packets with tinfoil, it is packed in sophisticated medicine bottles, each containing 25 grams. This dose is enough to cause dozens of people to overdose today and die alone in train station toilets.