At the beginning of the nineteenth century opium began to be used for entertainment in Europe. At first it was fashionable among the elite and bohemians, then, like cocaine, it became popular among the masses. The anti-alcohol laws that were passed in Britain and the USA played a major role in the wide spread of these substances, and the catalyst for the prohibition of opiates was the hatred of migrant laborers from China.
About this and much more in the second part of our long essay on the history of opium, which is devoted to the fate of the main drug in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
From pharmacies to the masses
By the middle of the nineteenth century, addiction to opiates began to be talked about in Europe as well. As early as the previous century, «black» or «Lancaster» drops appeared in the pharmacopoeias of Western countries, which were far superior to laudanum in their opium activity. And in 1804 the German pharmacist Friedrich Sertürner isolated from opium its «active ingredient» - «opium or meconic acid», which he named morphine after the Greek god of sleep. It was morphine, the first alkaloid obtained in its purest form from plants. The name «morphine» was later given to it by the French chemist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac.
Studying his brainchild, Serturner identified and described two fundamentally important features of the chronic use of morphine: «craving for the drug», that is, mental dependence, and «acquired immunity to the drug», that is, tolerance. However, morphine addiction was still half a century away from spreading.
About this and much more in the second part of our long essay on the history of opium, which is devoted to the fate of the main drug in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
From pharmacies to the masses
By the middle of the nineteenth century, addiction to opiates began to be talked about in Europe as well. As early as the previous century, «black» or «Lancaster» drops appeared in the pharmacopoeias of Western countries, which were far superior to laudanum in their opium activity. And in 1804 the German pharmacist Friedrich Sertürner isolated from opium its «active ingredient» - «opium or meconic acid», which he named morphine after the Greek god of sleep. It was morphine, the first alkaloid obtained in its purest form from plants. The name «morphine» was later given to it by the French chemist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac.
Studying his brainchild, Serturner identified and described two fundamentally important features of the chronic use of morphine: «craving for the drug», that is, mental dependence, and «acquired immunity to the drug», that is, tolerance. However, morphine addiction was still half a century away from spreading.
One of its preconditions was the fashion for psychoactive substances, which spread among the European intellectual elite and bohemians in the first half of the 19th century. In Great Britain they were fond of laudanum and opium pills, in France they preferred hashish.
The autobiography by the writer Thomas de Quincey (1785-1859), «Confessions of an English Opium-Eater» (1822), was the manifesto of English opium addiction.
Written in a brilliant style, the book's colorful portrayal of opium reveries and hallucinations had a major impact on the European elite's fascination with drugs.
«...That was the panacea for all human misfortunes, that was the secret of happiness, about which philosophers have argued for centuries, and the secret I obtained instantly: now happiness could be bought for a penny and fit in a vest pocket, now it could be corked in a bottle and carried with it obedient delight, and the gallons of calm of the soul could be carried by mail carriages».
De Quincey proclaimed himself a prophet of the «church of opium», which did not prevent him from describing the effects of long-term ingestion of laudanum.
«…The amazement wore off, leaving me not so much with a sense of horror as with a sense of hatred and disgust. Over this order of threats, punishments, and secret dungeons reigned an infinity and an eternity that almost drove me insane. Before it was only moral and mental torment, but now my body was also in pain: ugly birds, snakes, crocodiles tormented it, and from the latter I underwent special tortures. The cursed crocodile inspired my fear more than any other. I was doomed to live with him for centuries».
De Quincey and the opium wars also influenced the members of the «Hashish Club», which the psychiatrist Moreau de Tours created across the Channel in the 1840s. Being there with Parisian bohemians was considered a sign of the elect. Eugène Delacroix, Theophile Gautier, Charles Baudelaire, Alexandre Dumas, Honoré de Balzac and Victor Hugo frequented it. Although the main attraction in the salon was Algerian davamesk, a spicy hashish-based jam, the club members also experimented with opiates.
Thus, Gautier described his experience of smoking poppies, and Baudelaire in «Artificial Paradise» compared the effects of intoxication from hashish and opium. In his opinion, the former was far more dangerous, although he considered both to be the embodiment of the «spirit of darkness» that enslaves the human race.
But all these experiments with psychoactive substances were the privilege of the elite, with little impact on the lives of ordinary Europeans and Americans. The problematic use of substances became truly widespread as a result of alcohol restrictions and wars: the Crimean Campaign, then the Franco-Prussian War, the U.S. Civil War.
In 1840, against the background of the struggle against Chartism in Britain, harsh laws were passed to restrict the sale of alcohol, primarily gin, which since the 18th century had been the main means of oblivion for the English lower classes. But the proletariat quickly found a way out and solace in opium pills, which became considerably cheaper than alcohol.
By 1859, 61,000 pounds of opium (more than 27.5 tons) were being consumed in England. According to some estimates, about 5% of the country's population regularly consumed the drug.
In 1840, against the background of the struggle against Chartism in Britain, harsh laws were passed to restrict the sale of alcohol, primarily gin, which since the 18th century had been the main means of oblivion for the English lower classes. But the proletariat quickly found a way out and solace in opium pills, which became considerably cheaper than alcohol.
By 1859, 61,000 pounds of opium (more than 27.5 tons) were being consumed in England. According to some estimates, about 5% of the country's population regularly consumed the drug.
In 1853, British Wood and Frenchman Pravas invented a syringe and an injection needle, and morphine - more precisely, a solution of its hydrochloride salt, morphine - began to be actively used for anesthesia during surgical operations. The first mass application of the drug in surgery occurred on the fields of the Crimean Campaign of 1853-1856.
In the United States, widespread use of morphine injections in infirmaries during the Civil War led to the emergence of the «soldier's disease» - morphine addiction, which affected more than 400 thousand people.
Soldiers in combat conditions injected themselves with morphine to calm and relax. According to some reports, almost half of the German soldiers and officers who participated in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870-1871, became addicted to morphine.
In the United States, widespread use of morphine injections in infirmaries during the Civil War led to the emergence of the «soldier's disease» - morphine addiction, which affected more than 400 thousand people.
Soldiers in combat conditions injected themselves with morphine to calm and relax. According to some reports, almost half of the German soldiers and officers who participated in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870-1871, became addicted to morphine.
The popularity of morphine was also due to the fact that, unlike opium, it was not believed to be addictive. Since opium in Europe was either eaten or taken in the form of drops, the addiction it caused was attributed to the peculiarities of the stomach. And the subcutaneous injection of morphine was thought to avoid addiction to the substance.
Therefore, it was used to treat opium addiction and alcoholism, among other things. This misconception caused a considerable spread of morphinomania, or morphinism, especially among women and medical professionals.
Therefore, it was used to treat opium addiction and alcoholism, among other things. This misconception caused a considerable spread of morphinomania, or morphinism, especially among women and medical professionals.
«A morphinist who uses the drug with food is easier to cure than one who injects himself. Often physical violence is the only way. I know of a case where a young doctor who injected himself with morphine could only be cured by locking him in a room for more than a week. He resisted like a maniac, scratching the walls with his nails, crying and screaming, not eating anything, not being able to sleep, suffering from diarrhea, and so on. Eventually, after several days of merciless confinement, he felt better, began to sleep and eat»
- wrote the Bavarian toxicologist Hermann von Beck.
- wrote the Bavarian toxicologist Hermann von Beck.
At the same time, the scale of opium addiction was growing. In the second half of the 19th century, railroads were being built in the United States at breakneck speed, and Chinese coolies were used on these construction sites on a mass scale. Naturally, guest workers from the Celestial Empire brought with them the habit of smoking opium. The first smoking rooms opened in San Francisco's Chinatown, followed by similar establishments in New York.
However, already in 1875 the first local law was issued in San Francisco, prohibiting the maintenance and visitation of smoking rooms. However, like a century earlier in China itself, this measure proved ineffective.
The first measures against the spread of opium in the States were motivated less by concern for public morals than by growing xenophobia toward immigrants from China.
After the Civil War, racist and nationalist prejudices were already strong in the country, and later economic reasons were added to them.
However, already in 1875 the first local law was issued in San Francisco, prohibiting the maintenance and visitation of smoking rooms. However, like a century earlier in China itself, this measure proved ineffective.
The first measures against the spread of opium in the States were motivated less by concern for public morals than by growing xenophobia toward immigrants from China.
After the Civil War, racist and nationalist prejudices were already strong in the country, and later economic reasons were added to them.
On May 10, 1869, in Utah, the last crutch of solid gold was ceremoniously driven into the sleeper that completed construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad, in the presence of U.S. government officials and a large crowd of workers.
About five thousand construction workers, two-thirds of whom were Kuli, accustomed to extremely hard labor for 30-35 dollars a month (530-640 dollars in today's money), were left without work overnight. Of this miserable pay, they still managed to save up to 20 dollars a month. That is, people were willing to work literally for a pittance.
Meanwhile, there were virtually no other jobs in the Wild West. This could not but affect the attitude of white Americans toward yesterday's fellow workers from across the ocean. What it became is beautifully illustrated by Mark Twain's Letters of a Chinese Man.
One of them describes how the main character, A-Sun-hee, a recent Chinese immigrant to the States, is attacked by white thugs with a vicious dog. The classic of American literature saves his character from death through the intervention of a concerned passerby.
«Then the passerby who brought the policemen in asked the young men why they had treated me so inhumanly, but the men told him not to mess with his business. These damn Chinese come to America to take bread out of the mouths of decent white people - they declared, and when we try to stand up for our legal rights, there are people who make stories about it».
Many others could not escape. That same year, 1869, there were racist pogroms against Asians in San Francisco.
The apotheosis of anti-Chinese xenophobia in the United States at the legislative level was the «Chinese Exclusion Act» passed by Congress in 1882, which prohibited their immigration and naturalization. And on the social level - the massacre in Rock Springs, Wyoming in September 1885. At that time several dozen Chinese coolies were killed by white workers because of a labor dispute in the mines.
Along with puritanical prudery, xenophobia was one of the prerequisites for the U.S. to later become the flagship of the global anti-drug campaign.
Opium smokes were also spreading in European capitals. Public attitudes toward them were already cool, but it had not yet reached the point of prohibition. «There are dens for opium smokers where oblivion can be bought. There are horrible creches where the memory of old sins can be drowned in the madness of new ones» - this is how Oscar Wilde described these hot spots in London in Portrait of Dorian Gray.
Many others could not escape. That same year, 1869, there were racist pogroms against Asians in San Francisco.
The apotheosis of anti-Chinese xenophobia in the United States at the legislative level was the «Chinese Exclusion Act» passed by Congress in 1882, which prohibited their immigration and naturalization. And on the social level - the massacre in Rock Springs, Wyoming in September 1885. At that time several dozen Chinese coolies were killed by white workers because of a labor dispute in the mines.
Along with puritanical prudery, xenophobia was one of the prerequisites for the U.S. to later become the flagship of the global anti-drug campaign.
Opium smokes were also spreading in European capitals. Public attitudes toward them were already cool, but it had not yet reached the point of prohibition. «There are dens for opium smokers where oblivion can be bought. There are horrible creches where the memory of old sins can be drowned in the madness of new ones» - this is how Oscar Wilde described these hot spots in London in Portrait of Dorian Gray.
A blow to cocaine and heroin addiction
In 1868 it was forbidden in England to take opium without a doctor's prescription. It remained on the open market, however, and private practitioners quietly wrote prescriptions for patients.
At the International Opium Conference in 1880, the abuse of narcotic substances was recognized as a disease called addiction. The search for remedies for the new affliction began. One of them was for some time considered shortly before the discovery of the stimulant cocaine. Sigmund Freud, in particular, suggested treating morphinism with it.
In the United States, the Civil War veteran pharmacist John Pemberton, who suffered from «soldier’s disease», invented a drink based on coca and cola nut extracts for its treatment, which he called Coca-Cola. However, it soon became clear that cocaine was also addictive.
In 1868 it was forbidden in England to take opium without a doctor's prescription. It remained on the open market, however, and private practitioners quietly wrote prescriptions for patients.
At the International Opium Conference in 1880, the abuse of narcotic substances was recognized as a disease called addiction. The search for remedies for the new affliction began. One of them was for some time considered shortly before the discovery of the stimulant cocaine. Sigmund Freud, in particular, suggested treating morphinism with it.
In the United States, the Civil War veteran pharmacist John Pemberton, who suffered from «soldier’s disease», invented a drink based on coca and cola nut extracts for its treatment, which he called Coca-Cola. However, it soon became clear that cocaine was also addictive.
In 1874, the English chemist Alder Wright synthesized a new morphine derivative, diacetylmorphine. At that time, this discovery did not draw much attention. However, at the very end of the century, German chemist Felix Hoffmann, who had previously developed the analgesic that became known as aspirin for the Bayer pharmaceutical company, became interested in this substance.
Diacetylmorphine, or, as Hoffmann called it, diamorphine, unlike its increasingly odious «daddy», produced a relatively quiet euphoria with minimal behavioral and intellectual disruptions. And it did not seem to be addictive. So they decided to use it to treat morphine addiction, and also as a cough medicine for children. And in 1898, Bayer patented and marketed a new drug - heroin.
According to one version, the drug received this name because it was believed to be able to «heroically» fight a wide range of ailments. According to another version, when the drug was tested on the company's employees, it encouraged them so much that they thought they were «heroes».
Diacetylmorphine, or, as Hoffmann called it, diamorphine, unlike its increasingly odious «daddy», produced a relatively quiet euphoria with minimal behavioral and intellectual disruptions. And it did not seem to be addictive. So they decided to use it to treat morphine addiction, and also as a cough medicine for children. And in 1898, Bayer patented and marketed a new drug - heroin.
According to one version, the drug received this name because it was believed to be able to «heroically» fight a wide range of ailments. According to another version, when the drug was tested on the company's employees, it encouraged them so much that they thought they were «heroes».
The drug was widely used as an effective substitute for morphine during the first decade of the 20th century, until doctors and pharmacists began to notice that some patients were taking excessive amounts of heroin cough medicines. That's when it turned out that in the liver synthetic heroin breaks down to its insidious precursor, morphine. The circle was closed.