The Seven-Per-Cent Solution

For some reason, the word cocaine has captured my attention a few times in the last couple of weeks ... I found, while looking for something else, the song Cocaine by Eric Clapton. Pretty good. If you're interested, read more about the song at Wikipedia .... then there was the news story about Mexico's decision (nad later change of mind) about legalizing certain drugs, including cocaine ... and tonight, on a rerun of CSI, there was a reference to Sherlock Holmes and the Seven-Per-Cent Solution.

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, for those not familiar with it, was a novel by Nicholas Meyer. It was published as a lost manuscript of the late Dr. Watson, Holmes' sidekick, and it tells of Holmes's recovery from addiction to cocaine with the help of Sigmund Freud, as well as his solving of a sinister kidnapping plot.

I haven't read the novel, but I have seen the 1976 movie of the same name, that was made from the novel. It stars Robert Duvall, Vanessa Redgrave, Laurence Olivier, Nicole Williamson and Alan Arkin. One of the interesting things about the storyline is the true life portrayal of Sigmund Freud as a former user of cocaine. Read the NY Times review of the movie here.