25,000 Years Ago, the Earliest Human Drug Use May Have Occurred on This Small Island

• The article states that archaeologists found betel nut residue on ancient teeth in Indonesia, suggesting that human drug use may have occurred 25,000 years ago, pushing back the timeline of psychoactive drug use by over 10,000 years.
• The study found betel nut residue in the teeth of two hunter-gatherer skeletons from Sulawesi, dating to 7,600 to 6,300 years ago and 25,000 to 16,000 years ago, respectively. The residue was identified as Arecoline, a neuroactive alkaloid in betel nuts.
• The research implies that betel nut use may have been a form of drug use, with the residue indicating that the practice was widespread in the region. The findings challenge earlier assumptions about the timeline of psychoactive drug use and suggest that drug use may have begun much earlier than previously thought.
• The study highlights that betel nut use was not limited to the Asia-Pacific region but was widespread among the 10% of the world's population living there. The use of betel nuts involved grinding the seeds into a powder and mixing them with other ingredients to produce a mild altered state.
• The research also suggests that the practice may have initially been used as a toothache remedy, but over time, it led to severe dental problems, creating a cycle of continued habitual use. The findings push back the timeline of the use of psychoactive substances and reframe our understanding of human drug history.

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