The renowned Andalusian ophthalmologic surgeon Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi ("Abulcasis", 936–1013 CE) relied on opium and mandrake as surgical anesthetics and wrote a treatise, al-Tasrif, that influenced medical thought well into the 16th century. [23] For the illegal drug trade, the morphine is extracted from the opium latex, reducing the bulk weight by 88%. It is then converted to heroin which is almost twice as potent, [6] and increases the value by a similar factor. The reduced weight and bulk make it easier to smuggle. a b c M J Brownstein (June 15, 1993). "A brief history of opiates, opioid peptides, and opioid receptors". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 90 (12): 5391–5393. Bibcode: 1993PNAS...90.5391B. doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.12.5391. PMC 46725. PMID 8390660.

John Rennie (March 26, 2007). "When a woman ruled Chinatown". Tower Hamlets Newsletter. Archived from the original on February 10, 2010 . Retrieved May 12, 2007.

More from YSL & Similar Fragrances

a b c d e Brown Richard Harvey (2002). "The Opium Trade And Opium Policies In India, China, Britain, And The United States: Historical Comparisons And Theoretical Interpretations". Asian Journal of Social Science. 30 (3): 623. doi: 10.1163/156853102320945420. Description of the Culture of the White Poppy and Preparation of Opium, as Practised in the Province of Bahar". The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Miscellany. Vol.3. Wm. H. Allen & Company. 1817 . Retrieved May 31, 2022. Donna Young (April 15, 2007). "Scientists Examine Pain Relief and Addiction". Archived from the original on December 6, 2007 . Retrieved June 6, 2007. William Muir (1875), The opium revenue: Sir William Muir's minute and other extracts from papers published by the Calcutta government; also extracts from parliamentary papers (1sted.), London: The Anglo-Oriental Society for the Suppression of the Opium Trade, p.30, Wikidata Q19095804

If you take a large amount of opium, you could overdose. Call an ambulance straight away by dialling triple zero (000) if you or another person have any of these symptoms (ambulance officers don’t need to involve the police): Alfred W. McCoy (1972). "The politics of heroin in Southeast Asia". Archived from the original on October 7, 2007 . Retrieved September 24, 2007. Hai guan zong shui wu si shu (1889). The poppy in China. Shanghai; Statistical Dept. of the Inspectorate General of Customs. Eventually, laudanum became readily available and extensively used by the 18th century in Europe, especially England. [33] Compared to other chemicals available to 18th century regular physicians, opium was a benign alternative to arsenic, mercury, or emetics, and it was remarkably successful in alleviating a wide range of ailments. Due to the constipation often produced by the consumption of opium, it was one of the most effective treatments for cholera, dysentery, and diarrhea. As a cough suppressant, opium was used to treat bronchitis, tuberculosis, and other respiratory illnesses. Opium was additionally prescribed for rheumatism and insomnia. [34] Medical textbooks even recommended its use by people in good health, to "optimize the internal equilibrium of the human body". [19] Hideyuki Takano; The Shore Beyond Good and Evil: A Report from Inside Burma's Opium Kingdom (2002, Kotan, ISBN 0-9701716-1-7)Some opium has been found to be contaminated with lead. The source of lead in opium is still unclear, possibly due to contamination from equipment used to process the opium, intentional adulteration of opium with lead to increase its weight, or from growing opium poppies in contaminated soil. 9, 10 Opiates (e.g., morphine, codeine, and thebaine) exert their main effects on the brain and spinal cord. Their principal action is to relieve or suppress pain. The drugs also alleviate anxiety; induce relaxation, drowsiness, and sedation; and may impart a state of euphoria or other enhanced mood. Opiates also have important physiological effects: they slow respiration and heartbeat, suppress the cough reflex, and relax the smooth muscles of the gastrointestinal tract. Opiates are addictive drugs; they produce a physical dependence and withdrawal symptoms that can only be assuaged by continued use of the drug. With chronic use, the body develops a tolerance to opiates, so that progressively larger doses are needed to achieve the same effect. The higher opiates—heroin and morphine—are more addictive than opium or codeine. Opiates are classified as narcotics because they relieve pain, induce stupor and sleep, and produce addiction. The habitual use of opium produces physical and mental deterioration and shortens life. An acute overdose of opium causes respiratory depression which can be fatal. Ahmad, Diana L. The Opium Debate and Chinese Exclusion Laws in the Nineteenth-century American West (University of Nevada Press, 2007). Drugs and Racism in the Old West. Auerbach, Sascha. Race, Law and 'The Chinese Puzzle' in Imperial Britain. New York: Palgrave-Macmillan Press, 2009. Marc Andre Matten, ed. (December 9, 2011). Places of Memory in Modern China: History, Politics, and Identity. BRILL. p.271. ISBN 978-90-04-21901-4.

Ouchterlony, John (1844). The Chinese war: an account of all the operations of the British forces from the commencement to the Treaty of Nanking. London: Saunders and Otley.

Sweet Floral Sensation

Nye, Gideon (1873). The morning of my life in China: comprising an outline of the history of foreign intercourse from the last year of the regime of honorable East India Company, 1833, to the imprisonment of the foreign community in 1839. Speer, William (1870). The oldest and the newest empire: China and the United States. Hartford, Conn., S. S. Scranton and company; Philadelphia, Parmelee & co.; [etc., etc.] Opium smoking began as a privilege of the elite and remained a great luxury into the early 19th century. However, by 1861, Wang Tao wrote that opium was used even by rich peasants, and even a small village without a rice store would have a shop where opium was sold. [47]