In researching the death of Confederate Gen. Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, Albin discovered that the U.S. pharmaceutical industry and the nation's problem with drug addiction could be traced back to before the Civil War.

About 15 years before the Civil War, scientists discovered the pain-killing properties of ether and chloroform. Albin said the painkillers, as well as morphine, were widely used by doctors during the Civil War to treat battlefield casualties.

Prior to the war, doctors rarely using anesthesia, reasoning that there was moral value in excruciating pain. But after the war, anesthesia was more widely accepted.

Soon, a massive demand for pharmaceuticals grew. They were used to treat war injuries and to address an epidemic of diseases that surfaced from unsanitary military camps.

At the time, little information was available about addiction. But it was estimated that as many as 120,000 veterans were addicted to drugs in 1868.

According to Albin, the government considered narcotic addiction as a "willful vice" and veterans risked losing pensions because of it.

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