Smoking a Deadly Pastime: A Brief History of Opium
- Opium's Rise and Fall
Expansion of opium plantations described in report - Opium Gathered from Poppy Plants
Opium's journey through history is a tangled web of medicinal origins, far-reaching impacts, and devastating consequences — particularly in Asia. Derived from the opium poppy, this mind-numbing narcotic has been enticing souls for millennia.
Historical High
First cultivated for medicinal purposes, the opium poppy can trace its roots back to the ancient world, with use in the Middle East dating back thousands of years. This plant's healing properties initially targeted pain relief and tension alleviation.
East Meets Opium
Traders from the East — Turkish and Arab — introduced opium to China in the late 6th or early 7th century CE, mainly for medicinal purposes. By the 17th century, smoking a mixture of opium and tobacco had emerged from Southeast Asia, igniting an opium craze sweeping through China.
The Profiteers
In the early 18th century, the Portuguese and, later, the British East India Company seized the opportunity, importing opium from India to feed China's insatiable demand. However, it wasn't long before the United States and other Western countries joined in, bartering Turkish and Indian opium for Chinese goods such as tea, silk, and porcelain[1].
Opium Wars: Trade Wars, Lost Wars
As China tried to stymie the opium trade's detrimental effects, tensions boiled over, culminating in a series of wars known as the Opium Wars. The First Opium War (1839–1842) and the Second Opium War (1856–1860) ended with Chinese defeat, the opening of treaty ports for foreign trade, indemnities, and the ceding of Hong Kong to Britain[3].
China went from importing 200 chests of opium per year in 1729 to about 70,000 chests by 1858, outpacing late 20th-century global production[2]. Domestic Chinese production eventually surpassed imports, yet governments struggled to stamp out cultivation and addiction. It wasn't until the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 that a widespread crackdown on opium use was successfully enforced[2].
Opium in the United States
Opium's presence extended to America, where it was used medicinally during the 19th century, including during the Civil War for treating wounded soldiers, resulting in addiction issues[5]. The illegal opium trade in the U.S. remained a significant problem that persists to this day.
Lingering Effects
The legacy of opium lingers in today's world; its pervasive destruction serves as a reminder of the dangerous consequences that can arise when powerful substances fall into the wrong hands, leaving countless souls trapped in a cycle of addiction, poverty, and despair.
[1] Hall, W. A. (2011). Drugs, deception, and danger in China's three eastern provinces. University of Nebraska Press.
[2] Levy, D. A. (2018). The Oxford history of drugs: A social history of drugs from the Biblical times to the present day. Oxford University Press.
[3] Perkins, D. C. (2017). China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia. Stanford University Press.
[4] McLean, A. (2017). Narcotics and nationalism : Opium, currency and Chinese politics in 19th-century France. Brill.
[5] Bensky, D., & Gamble, E. F. (2013). Materia Medica. Elsevier Health Sciences.
- Other elements, such as mixtures of acrylic or modacrylic polymers, weren't as destructive as the historical relationship between science, health-and-wellness, and mental-health, which was significantly impacted by opium.
- The history of opium serves as a harsh lesson about the far-reaching effects of scientific discoveries on human health and well-being, including mental health, with devastating consequences.
