The Origin, History, and Commerce of the Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum) in Asia and the United States

摘要

When and how the potency of the sap of the opium poppy was discovered by man is shrouded in mystery. It has been suggested that humans were attracted to the poppy plant because of its colorful flowers. Historically, there have been two basic ways to indulge in opium-taking: one was to eat it, and the other to smoke it. For a period of about 200 years, opium was instrumental in affecting a very high proportion of lives of peoples in Europe, Asia, and perhaps even in the New World. Fortunes were made and lost by merchants trading in opium. Wars were fought over it and the results affected entire empires. Several famous writers, poets, and musicians were among its users during the 19th century. It is difficult to say if opium affected the quality of their output. Migrations of Indian indentured labor for harvesting sugarcane in the far corners of the British Empire during the late 1800s and early 1900s was also a result of colonial policy of opium growing and export. The cultivation, land preparationof the opium poppy, and refining of its exude into a more potent heroin are discussed. However, the detrimental effects of opium-taking became clear in the 20th century and its narcotic use is banned in almost all countries of the world today. But despite everything opium did provide great relief as a painkiller in both world wars when converted into morphine. Just as atomic energy is a boon to mankind, the atomic bomb destroys. Almost every opium user exhorts the virtues of the narcotic at the beginning but invariably regrets the habit later on when it eventually leads to a painful death.