Author here (and original poster). That's a great idea. I'm going to write them to see what they think about the origin of the symbol, and will update the post if they respond.
I've always loved the location of that museum by the way - not only beautifully situated facing the water, but also across from a park frequented by sellers of hashish (at least it was when I lived in Lisbon back in 2012). The big iron fence dividing the licit drug museum from the people selling illicit drugs right in front of it has since become my favorite metaphor for the history of drugs.
sorry to brake it to you, but those guys are scammers who try to sell people, especially tourists, not hashish but "louro prensado"(1), compacted bay leafs.
There is a recent reddit thread about late 60s usa anti drug efforts, with some history about the status of drugs in the decades before it. Interesting.
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[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 38.8 ms ] threadhttp://www.museudafarmacia.pt/
It would be interesting to get their take on this topic (not to suggest that this author's interpretation is in any way mistaken).
I've always loved the location of that museum by the way - not only beautifully situated facing the water, but also across from a park frequented by sellers of hashish (at least it was when I lived in Lisbon back in 2012). The big iron fence dividing the licit drug museum from the people selling illicit drugs right in front of it has since become my favorite metaphor for the history of drugs.
(1) https://www.google.com/search?&q=louro+prensado
http://www.museus.ulisboa.pt/en/jpsdias
It which case its origin may be a representation of the treatment for guinea worm.
I've read the caduceus is supposedly an ancient symbol or at least in some way connected to prostitution.
A bit of a faux pas to choose such a symbol!
Thanks for the article.