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Story: Drugs

Loasby's lung tonic

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Loasby's lung tonic

When this lung tonic began to be sold in New Zealand in 1911 it came with a pamphlet that described the medicine as containing no opiates. This was a response to the increasing public concern and legislative restrictions against the use of opiates and other drugs in patent medicines.

Using this item

Private collection

by Claire Le Couteur

Courtesy of Cotter Medical Museum Trust

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

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How to cite this page

Jock Phillips, Drugs – Restricting drugs, 1866 to 1965, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/object/39562/loasbys-lung-tonic (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Jock Phillips, published 15 November 2012.