chemical cosh
n.— «Treatments of mental and physical illnesses were spiritual tasks, not merely matters for medical repair, the prince said. Psychiatrists should resort less often to the “chemical cosh” of drugs.» —“How a prince promotes medical treatment for the whole man” by Thomson Prentice Times (London, United Kingdom) Feb. 13, 1992. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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Novelist Charles Dickens and the musician Prince were very different types of artists, but they also had a lot in common. A new book chronicling their extraordinary careers becomes a larger meditation on perfectionism and creativity itself. Plus...