Natural preparations have been used for thousands of ages for a variety of purposes including as medicines, poisons, and psychotropic drugs. The largest grouped of preparations from living organisms are medicines, and historically these have come from plants. Quinine and aspirin are two examples of medicines which were extracted originally from plants. Mind-altering, or psychotropic, drugs come mostly from plants or fungi. In many traditional cultures, sickness and death are attributed to maligned spirits so that medicine and religion become inseparable. Uses of cohohba, snakeplant, coca, and peyote are discussed. The process by which new pharmaceuticals are discovered from natural products is described. The implications of an agreement between a major pharmaceutical company and a country in the tropics are discussed.
The "Chemistry Teacher Connection" (CTC) is especially for high school chemistry teachers. For only $40/year, it offers an online-only subscription to CLIC along with membership in the Division of Chemical Education, normally $65/year. CTC subscribers receive access to all articles and supplements from 1996 through the current issue.
Through special arrangement with the ACS, JCE High School CLIC is now able to provide subscribers with online access to Chemical & Engineering News articles that have been selected specifically for secondary science instructors and their students.
Occasionally, collections of JCE back issues become available for donation to individual teachers, schools, or libraries. JCE matches collections with interested recipients. Recipients pay shipping costs or pick up the collection.