The reproduction of a junkie passed out on the road is something that most humans see as indicative of the modern pickle of drug addiction. Today ' s drug users maltreat potent opiates like heroin, morphine, Oxycontin and other types of prescription medication. Addiction to these substances occurs briskly and is very difficult to run over. However, this is item but a modern mess. In gospel, humans have struggled with addiction to opiates for literally thousands of years. This is important to realize being it demonstrates that addiction isn ' t a problem that affects a specific class of person or mortals from fragment particular empiricism - it is a human character that has been with us since recorded history began.
The very earliest organized society - the Sumerians, write about using the poppy plant long before Mesopotamian societies came into existence. In fact, their word for the poppy plant means " joy plant " or " happy plant. " The ancient Greeks recognized the value of this plant as well, and thousands of years before Christ Greek physicians were hailing it as a cure or treatment for many ailments while people used the drug recreationally in large numbers. Addiction during this time was rampant, but opiate use was such a part of daily life that the consequences of it were often not a concern for many people.
Over the next two thousand years, use of opium spread all over the world: ancient civilizations in Africa, India, China, the Middle East and elsewhere began using the drug in vast numbers. Public space was often dedicated to opium users and tolerance and acceptance of opium use was widespread. In fact, an enormous trade in the drug developed that was the primary source of income for a number of powerful nations. The opium trade was directly responsible for the astonishing expansion of trade routes worldwide that resulted in a mingling of cultures that led to wars, intermarriage, and cultural diversity. At the time, opium was the great unifier.
But by the 1800 ' s, opium would become the great divider. Addiction to the substance was crippling the ability of countries like China to function as a prosperous nation. Some estimates state that at the time, more than 50 % of able - bodied men in China were addicted to drugs derived from the poppy. The Chinese government shut down the opium trades routes into and out of their country, sparking two major wars with Great Britain that were famously called " The Opium Wars. "
While these wars were being fought, the newly formed United States of America was struggling with an addiction epidemic of its own. The US had long had its share of opium dens, but with the development of morphine shortly before the Civil War, addiction rose to new, previously unheard of levels. The later creation of heroin - which was developed to treat addiction to morphine and other drugs - greatly compounded this problem. Little has changed since then.
Opiates are still among the top drugs of choice today: heroin, morphine, Fentanyl, Oxycodone, methadone and many more drugs like these are all opiates, and they are all extremely addictive. Unfortunately, they are also some of the most easily available drugs in the world, with tens of thousands addicted in the US alone. And based on the fact that the history of opium use spans thousands of years, it ' s not likely that we ' ll see an end to this anytime soon.
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