Prozium, acclaimed as the great nepenthe, the opiate of the masses and the glue of the great (read: repressively dystopian) society, is a highly potent sedative that deadens nearly all emotions to a dull hum.
Prozium is described as an anesthetic for the emotions, which implies that they’re still there, they just can’t be felt. Although given that it is apparently still necessary to destroy any art that might provoke an emotional response, one might well ask just how effective it truly is.
Still, there are some people who regard the sacrifice of all the higher emotions as a fair exchange for getting rid of the lower ones – and they’re the same people who run the world.