We know that the Romans and their Mediterranean contemporaries used the herb silphium as an antifertility drug until it was driven to extinction due to the huge demand. Of course, this probably doesn't count as a "recreational" drug, unless people enjoyed having abortions (and given the occasionally painful side effects of abortifacient drugs, silphium was probably not fun).

In the Indian subcontinent, soma was consumed as part of liturgical practice. Both Zoroastrian and Hindu texts mention its use, but beyond that we are not sure exactly what it was. It was a liquid, derived from a plant, and its consumption was stimulating or enlightening, hence its use in ancient religion -- and that is the limit of our knowledge. Save that its processed form was a golden, sun-colored liquid, we are not even certain that soma was a plant! I list in my sources an article by Wasson which theorizes that soma was derived from the fly agaric mushroom, which could have been conceivably thought of as a "plant" and which bears some circumstantial evidence in its favor (namely: the soma plant was never described with roots or leaves, it can be liquefied in a manner that resembles the descriptions of liquid soma, and it has a history of use in other religious traditions) (also, my favorite point of evidence, Indra is described drinking soma and "pissing it out," and other religions which used fly agaric discovered in their turn that the hallucinogenic properties are preserved in the urine of one who has consumed the mushrooms). This is not the universally accepted solution, and there are many other plants that are likely candidates.

But soma was not "recreational" in any sense, at least not in its official recommended use. Hindu society is traditionally divided into four classes, or varna: Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra (this is separate from the caste system, which is a bit more complicated). There is evidence in the Aitareya Brahmana (an ancient commentary on the Vedic texts) that officiants at a soma-sacrifice might not have actually been allowed to consume soma, especially if they were a Kshatriya (the term used is Rajanya, but I am assured that this is equivalent terminology for Kshatriya at this particular time). While the specific rituals were not specifically limited to Brahmins, it was evidently their responsibility, and so it was them (and not others) who had the greatest opportunity to partake of soma.

Now we have two drugs, one of which we know the name and what it looked like, and one of which we know the name but its origins and identity are still debated. I present to you a third drug, where we do not know the name or the identity of the plant! (Although there are some very good guesses.) Herodotus writes in The Persian Wars (1.202, G. Rawlinson translation) about the inhabitants of the region surrounding the River Araxes:

Besides the trees whose fruit they gather for this purpose, they have also a tree which bears the strangest produce. When they are met together in companies they throw some of it upon the fire round which they are sitting, and presently, by the mere smell of the fumes which it gives out in burning, they grow drunk, as the Greeks do with wine. More of the fruit is then thrown on the fire, and, their drunkenness increasing, they often jump up and begin to dance and sing. Such is the account which I have heard of this people.

It seems that Herodotus, assuming that he is accurately relaying an anecdote, is describing recreational use of -- well, historians seem to think he's talking about cannabis. He does not name or describe the appearance of this drug, however, so the possibility exists that he is describing an unknown, possibly lost pharmaceutical.

For further reading:

Kashikar, C. G. “Soma-Drink vis-à-vis the Ruling Class" Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute 67:1/4 (1986): 247-250.

Riddle, John M., and J. Worth Estes. “Oral Contraceptives in Ancient and Medieval Times." American Scientist 80:3 (May-June 1992): 226-233.

Wasson, R. Gordon. “The Soma of the Rig Veda: What Was It?" Journal of the American Oriental Society 91:2 (April-June 1971): 169-187.

So one clear candidate for "bygone drugs" for discussion in this thread would be a plant commonly referred to as "Rigveda [ṛgveda] Soma", based on its attestation in that Hindu Vedic text (although it is mentioned elsewhere too). I say discussion, rather than a clear cut answer though, for a reason, as it is a substance that is less 'no longer in existence' than it is a substance which there has been great debate over what it actually is, with a number of different analogues proposed by various scholars. What we do know is that it had ceremonial use, "specifically intended to induce a state of intoxicated ecstasy that produced spiritual health, renewal, and immortality through mystical communion with deity." It wasn't recreational in purpose here, to be sure, but is broader evidence of both ancient drug use, and use specifically of a drug we're unsure on (there is no reference to recreational enjoyment or misuse in the Vedic texts at least).

Westerners have been trying to figure out just what "Soma" is at since the early 1800s. Early proposals from that period included Ruta graveolens - an herb known as 'common rue'; Sarcostemma brevistigma - a type of milkweed; and Ephedra sinica - 'Chinese ephedra', an herb with some medicinal properties; but a full list goes into the dozens. Sarcostemma appears to have been an especially popular identification in that period, but became more and more rejected by the end of the century, while Ephedra remains one of the more enduring of the earlier proposed candidates with supporters still writing favorably for it in recent times.

Cannabis has been a popular identification, especially favored by the early 20th century author Mukherjee, although the first proposal came in 1884, and there are verses which can be read to support it, such as:

The immortal green-tinted Soma when purified is arranged

And some scholars believe there is at least a compelling argument for it. B.G.L. Sawmy summed up the argument for this identification positively, although less than conclusively:

Thus there is reason to infer that it was the water-soluble factor of the Cannabis narcotic and that too in great dilution which opened up their 'doors of perception' and gave vocal expression to their mystic experiences.

But one of the most common identifications which pops up is that Soma was some sort Amanita muscaria, a psychoactive fungus called 'common fly-agaric', a red-capped mushroom. This identification is based on the work of R. Gordon Wasson, who published his theory in 1968 and then continued to revise it (he claims to have first hit on the possibility while chatting with Aldous Huxley). Is key arguments hinge on the description of "Soma" as a "not refer[ing] to the roots or leaves or blossoms or seeds", and that it was a preparation with "inebriating property although non-alcoholic". Others have pushed back against it though, especially Vedic scholars who believe he did not exercise the necessary caution in taking the Vedic text too literally, such as the description lacking roots and such being a passage intended to allude to the divine origins of the plant rather than a literal description of it.

Many also push back that Wasson decided on fly-agaric and then went fishing for verses to support his theory (Mushrooms were his thing), and even some who agree with his end-theory find his method to be suspect, as at least some of his work seems to have been based off observations of Siberian peoples who used the fungus and then simply extrapolating some of his findings there, such as drinking the urine of a person who had previously consumed the plant. There is no hard evidence for it in the Vedas, and Wasson seems to be grasping at very weak evidence there. In Wasson's defense at least, he did at least seem consider other possibilities beyond fly-agaric, although always with a focus of psychoactives, and his recollections are imperfect. Early correspondence while working on his theory do point to his consideration of Lagochilus inebrians - " inebriating mint" and Stropharia cubensis - gold caps, aka "magic mushrooms"; as well as the seeds of various forms of morning glory, which contain lysergic acid.

Wasson's theory is on the outs though it would seem, as more recent archaeological excavations have uncovered evidence of cannabis, ephedra, and opium poppies in the temple sites where the ceremonies were conducted, dating to the mid-1500s BCE. If or how they were used specifically in the preparation of Soma of course is not clear though, nor how widespread their preparation style was, so it isn't quite the final argument. The evidence for Cannabis use points to it being a 'fumigant', the smoke unleashed in the chamber, so possibly not as an ingredient, or of course possibly just with multiple uses.

One additional thing ought to also be noted however. While the hunt for identification of ṛgveda Soma was about finding what it was originally, few disagree that there was wide variety of "surrogate substitutes" in later eras following migratory transitions by practitioners who found themselves in regions where the original Soma no longer could be found or grow. Even Wasson, who disagrees with the Cannabis or Ephedra identification, would agree that they were substitutes used later on, as well as other possible candidates that were proposed as the "original".

Ruck, Paul & Carl Anton. 2016. "Mushroom sacraments in the cults of early europe". NeuroQuantology 14(1) 68-93

Riedlinger, T.J. 1993. "Wasson's Alternative Candidates for Soma". Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. 25(2):149-156. 1993.

Shah, N.C. 2015. "Soma, an Enigmatic, Mysterious Plant of the Vedic Aryas: An Appraisal". Indian Journal of History of Science 50 (1) 26-41

Swamy, BGL 1974. "Sources for a History of Plant Sciences in India II. The RG Vedic Soma Plant." Indian Journal of History of Science 11(1) 11-32

There were many psychoactive drugs used by pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, due to the large number of psychoactive reagents that are indigenous to the region. Most notably Teotalqualli roughly translating to “divine meal” used by the Aztecs in their sacrificial rituals. While not used for strictly recreational purposes the priests would often anoint themselves with the black mixture poisonous animals burned in a sacrificial alter then,

“ to the ashes were added a large amount of tobacco and pulverized seeds of ololiuhqui, as well as a number of living scorpions, spiders, centipedes, black harry worms, and soot.”^1

This mixture would have its ingredients altered depending on the god it was meant to please. The priests would then anoint them elves in the mixture before performing rituals or before they would pray. people who were to be sacrificed were also anointed in the mixture while waiting to be sacrificed. The mixture was said to provide powerful and sometimes calming hallucinations. Precolumbian drug use is an incredibly interesting field and worth reading up on if you have time.

^1 Teotlaqualli: The Psychoactive food of the Aztec Gods Elferink, Jan G R Journal of Psychoactive Drugs; Oct-Dec 1999; 31, 4; ProQuest Central pg. 435

Can I add a question? Blue lotus aphrodisiac in Egyptian times driven to extinction by demand. I have this factoid in my head from where I have no idea. But I would love to know if it is real or not.

Hi, everyone,

Welcome to our semi-charmed kind of subreddit! This geek stink thread is drawing a lot of attention. While I know there’s an answer, it can often take a significant amount of time for an in-depth and comprehensive answer that is backed by academic sources to appear out of the purple haze.

If the men on the chessboard get up and tell you to write posts that just copy a paragraph from Wikipedia, contain nothing but jokes, or complain about the removed comments, makedamnsure it is worth the temporary ban for breaking subreddit rules.

In the meantime, you might feed your head with some recent AskHistorians threads via our Sunday Digest, Best Of competition, or our Twitter feed.

Feel good hits of the subreddit like this one have a near-certain guarantee of an answer, so if you’re interested in the question, just keep truckin’ until then!