Opium

Opium is the only drug that has been declared reason for a war. In the 17th century, the British East India Company opium produced in India and sold in large quantities to China. Then in 1800, the Emperor Ch'ung Chen banned the consumption of drugs, which spread around the Chinese territory as a true epidemic.

However, the smuggling continued and by 1831, the sale of opium in Guangzhou has reached the equivalent of $ 11 million, while trade official of the Chinese port has not passed the seven million dollars. The insistence of the Chinese government in suppressing the use and sale of the drug led the country into a conflict with England, known as the Opium War. It began in March 1839, lasted almost three years and ended with the victory of the English, which forced China to release the drug importation and to pay compensation for the confiscated opium and destroyed over the years, and give Hong Kong. As a result, in 1900, half the adult male population of China was addicted to opium.

One of the most addictive substances there is, opium is made from resin extracted from the capsules of poppy seeds (Papaver somniferum), a plant native to Asia Minor and cultivated in Turkey, Iran, India, China, Lebanon, Greece, Yugoslavia , Bulgaria and Southeast Asia, home to the famous Golden Triangle. The drug is made by withdrawing a milky liquid capsules of poppy, which, after drying, results in a brown folder, which is then boiled to become opium. Further processing of opium result in morphine, codeine, heroin and other opiates.

In the illicit market, opium is sold in bars or reduced to powder and packed into capsules or tablets. It is not smoked, but inhaled by users, as in direct contact with the fire opium loses its narcotic properties. The drug also is eaten and consumed as tea or in the case of tablets dissolved under the tongue. A moderate dose causes the User descending into a relaxed and quiet world of fantastic dreams. The effect lasts three to four hours, during which the User feels freed from everyday anxieties, while his insight and their coordination remain unchanged. The first few times, the drug causes nausea, vomiting, anxiety, dizziness and shortness of breath, symptoms that disappear as the use becomes regular. Consumers often become passive and apathetic, their members seem increasingly heavy and your mind is locked in a wave of lethargy.

As its derivatives, opium causes tolerance in the body, which shall require increasing doses to feel normal. The increase in dosage leads to sleep and reduction of respiration and blood pressure that can develop in case of overdose, for nausea, vomiting, contraction of the pupils and drowsiness uncontrolled moving to coma and death from respiratory failure. Overdose can be caused not only by increasing the dosage of opium, but also by mixing the drug with alcohol and barbiturates. As the opium cause serious addiction, the consumer usually can die because of the withdrawal syndrome if the substance use is stopped abruptly.

Experts say the chance of inhalation drug is unlikely to cause addiction, although it is unknown the exact point where the person becomes addicted to opium. Once addicted, the individual no longer feel amazement originally produced by the drug, going to consume opium just to escape the terrible symptoms of withdrawal syndrome, which last from one to ten days and include chills, shivering, diarrhea, crying, nausea, sweating, vomiting, abdominal cramps and muscle, loss of appetite, insomnia and excruciating pain. Recent studies indicate that opioids may cause permanent biochemical changes at the molecular level, making the former addict to remain predisposed to return to the addiction even after years of deprivation of use of opiates.

Opium has several alkaloids, including morphine, primarily responsible for the narcotic. Other opium alkaloids are an anesthetic, and for thousands of years the drug was used as a sedative and tranquilizer, and is given as a remedy for dysentery, diarrhea, gout, diabetes, tetanus, insanity and even nymphomania. Opium has also been considered useful drug in alcoholism, and in the 19th century thousands of alcoholics began to consume opiates prepared to get rid of the drink, but just exchanging one drug for another.