All SSDP
SSDPedia
Opium
From SSDPedia
Opium is a naturally occurring substance found in the seeds of the opium poppy. Opium can be extracted from the seeds, to create heroin. It has a long history of use as an oral and smoked psychoactive.
Contents |
[edit] A Brief History
Known as hul gil, plant of joy, by Ancient Sumerians, opium cultivation goes back farther than 4,000 B.C. It wasn't until the mid 1600s, though, that opium showed up on the world scene. Great Britain began trading opium with China, and it soon became the main commodity of British trade to the region. In 1838 China tried to stop opium addiction in the country, so when China made the importing of opium illegal, it set off numerous chain reactions, that led to what became known as the first Opium War. China's navy was no match for the British Royal Navy, and the Chinese had to bow to the British demands, making the sale of opium legal once again. By the late 1800s, governments began cracking down on opium use in both the United States and Britain.
[edit] Effects
The duration of chemical effects of opium is around four hours.
The effects are as follows:
- Euphoria
- Sense of emotional detachment
- Absence of pain and stress
- Altered mood and mental processes
- Sleepiness
- Vomiting
- Loss of appetite
- Reduced sex drive
- Itchy skin
- Increased urination
- Sweating
- Inability to concentrate
- Impaired vision
- Death
[edit] Illegality
The first ban on opium in the United States happened in San Francisco, in1874, where smoking opium in the city limits was banned, except in Chinatowns and their opium dens. The next step towards illegality, was in 1890, when the United States Congress passed a law imposing a tax on opium and morphine. Tabloids at the time exploited racism, with wild, sensational stories of white women being seduced by Chinese men and their opium. In 1905, the United States banned opium, and finally the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914 made the sale of medical Opium illegal.
Opium is specified as a Schedule II drug by the United States.
[edit] Militarization and Interdiction
Much like when dealing with cocaine, the United States government went outside it's borders to attack the drug problem. The most well known of these countries are the trio of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran, though they also dealt with Colombia and Thailand. In Thailand, the United States signed treaties with the Thai government to destroy thousands of acres of poppy seeds.
U.N. drug control officers, in 2001, said that the Taliban had eradicated almost all the opium production in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, with the current instability in Afghanistan, the country has become the world's greatest producer of opium once again. According to the CIA World Factbook (updated in February of 2008), 80%-90% of heroin consumed in Europe comes from Afghan opium.
[edit] Slang Terms
- Big O
- Black Stuff
- Block
- O.P.
- Pen yan