Julian Crowley
Opium, the milky fluid extracted from the opium poppy, has been used since ancient times as a powerful narcotic. Islamic societies, for instance, knew of its effectiveness as a painkiller (and doubtless the blissful high it could induce) long before its re-introduction to Western societies around the 16th century.
Islamic societies, for instance, knew of its effectiveness as a painkiller (and doubtless the blissful high it could induce) long before its re-introduction to Western societies around the 16th century. popular medicinal use continued well into the 19th century, and it was freely available over the counter. It was sold, for example, dissolved in alcohol in the tincture known as laudanum, which was a favorite among the poor. Famously, the British even fought wars with China over the opium trade, such was the value that was seen in the drug. In the years before Britain’s 1868 Pharmacy Act limited its availability, opium was freely accessible to anyone who wished to buy or sell it. The fact that a significant proportion of the population was dependent on the drug went largely ignored.
It’s popular medicinal use continued well into the 19th century, and it was freely available over the counter. It was sold, for example, dissolved in alcohol in the tincture known as laudanum, which was a favorite among the poor. Famously, the British even fought wars with China over the opium trade, such was the value that was seen in the drug. In the years before Britain’s 1868 Pharmacy Act limited its availability, opium was freely accessible to anyone who wished to buy or sell it. The fact that a significant proportion of the population was dependent on the drug went largely ignored.
It was sold, for example, dissolved in alcohol in the tincture known as laudanum, which was a favorite among the poor. Famously, the British even fought wars with China over the opium trade, such was the value that was seen in the drug. In the years before Britain’s 1868 Pharmacy Act limited its availability, opium was freely accessible to anyone who wished to buy or sell it. The fact that a significant proportion of the population was dependent on the drug went largely ignored.
Famously, the British even fought wars with China over the opium trade, such was the value that was seen in the drug. In the years before Britain’s 1868 Pharmacy Act limited its availability, opium was freely accessible to anyone who wished to buy or sell it. The fact that a significant proportion of the population was dependent on the drug went largely ignored.
The fact that a significant proportion of the population was dependent on the drug went largely ignored.
