Alchemy was the medieval attempt to turn base metals into gold and create a potion that enabled someone to live forever.

I’m glad they failed really, as your local successful alchemist would be unbearable! They’d be a real know-it-all, because they would know it all; they’d have a gazillion “I remember when” stories, because they would, and if they started losing an argument they’d pull the old “Listen junior, it was before your timeline” line. And worse, everybody would be sickly nice to the alchemists because all the alchemists would be filthy rich!

Still, I don’t think I’d want to be a successful alchemist. Who wants to live on this earth forever? And watch everybody I loved die? And what if I got permanently sick? What if I broke my leg? What if I got a tattoo I didn’t like? What if I got a tattoo I did like of Justin Bieber and he got old .… as impossible as that currently appears.

When people no longer believed base metals could be converted into gold, interest in alchemy faded like a medieval Bitcoin.  

The alchemists never created gold nor the elixir of immortality, but they opened the portal to something better: chemistry and pharmaceuticals. 

Not all alchemists were saints and some used alchemy for sorcery; in fact, the Greek word “pharmakeia” where we get the word “pharmacy” means “sorcery”. But you can’t condemn the many for the actions of the few and without the alchemists, many people who have relied on tablets to stay alive, like my own beautiful parents, would have died decades ago.    

Come February 1 all products containing codeine such as Nurofen Plus and Panadeine will only be available with a doctor’s prescription. If happiness is the absence of pain, where will this leave those who experience sudden and severe pain?

The main reason for this decision is the small number of people misusing codeine; but as a wise priest just said above, “you can’t condemn the many for the actions of the few”. 

We speak of the danger of painkillers, but rarely the greater danger of pain not being killed. What will a person in severe pain do if their pain persists? Almost anything. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, in the depth of his agony, Romeo wisely advises “tempt not a desperate man”. 

In the Bible’s account of Cain and Abel we read "Why are you so angry?" the Lord asked Cain. "Why do you look so dejected?” (Gen 4:7). Cain’s pain leads to hate and eventual murder of his brother Abel.

Pain is the precursor to almost all of history’s atrocities and even to many smaller problems. Many people lost their job because they were in some pain; many have walked out on their families or even had an affair because they were experiencing severe pain. If these pains become severe, some will even commit suicide, yet a necessary part of their healing is often tablets, including codeine.

Jesus’ first miracles were turning water into wine and physical healings. He began his ministry bringing people joy through taking away their pain. 

If we are a humane society, one of our most important goals should be the alleviation of suffering through the alleviation of pain. Even if there are risks, I’m musing, for those in pain, this is better than finding gold.