From Cracked, Five Government Programs That Backfired
Before smoking caused blindness, masturbation was also a well-known path to blindness. New Scientist has a gallery of unusual medical devices from the past:
The Guardian's Deaf Section
72 year old milkman convicted for selling cannabis:
"I don't think what I was doing was that wrong. A couple of them have got MS and others have got arthritis. I was just giving them something to help...How to feed a family of 6 for $2.50 a week; What the World Eats Part I.Holding said his oldest customer had been 92 but was "no longer with us". Although he is teetotal and does not smoke, he began dealing in cannabis after being horrified to hear how much one of his elderly customers was paying for the drug.
"She had arthritis and her husband had MS and was in a wheelchair," he said. "They wanted it for the pain relief but it was costing them a fortune. I would sell them an eighth of an ounce for £4.10." The street value is £9.
