c.3400 B.C.
The opium poppy is cultivated in lower Mesopotamia. The Sumerians
refer to it as Hul Gil, the 'joy plant.' The Sumerians would soon pass
along the plant and its euphoric effects to the Assyrians. The art of
poppy-culling would continue from the Assyrians to the Babylonians who
in turn would pass their knowledge onto the Egyptians.
c.1300 B.C.
In the capital city of Thebes, Egyptians begin cultivation of opium
thebaicum,grown in their famous poppy fields.The opium trade
flourishes during the reign of Thutmose IV, Akhenaton and King
Tutankhamen. The trade route included the Phoenicians and Minoans who
move the profitable item across the Mediterranean Sea into Greece,
Carthage, and Europe.
c.1100 B.C.
On the island of Cyprus, the "Peoples of the Sea" craft
surgical-quality culling knives to harvest opium, which they would
cultivate, trade and smoke before the fall of Troy.
c. 460 B.C.
Hippocrates, "the father of medicine", dismisses the magical
attributes of opium but acknowledges its usefulness as a narcotic and
styptic in treating internal diseases, diseases of women and
epidemics.
330 B.C.
Alexander the Great introduces opium to the people of Persia and
India.
A.D. 400
Opium thebaicum, from the Egytpian fields at Thebes, is first
introduced to China by Arab traders.
1300's
Opium disappears for two hundred years from European historical
record. Opium had become a taboo subject for those in circles of
learning during the Holy Inquisition. In the eyes of the Inquisition,
anything from the East was linked to the Devil.
1500
The Portugese, while trading along the East China Sea, initiate the
smoking ofopium. The effects were instantaneous as they discovered but
it was a practice the Chinese considered barbaric and subversive.
1527
During the height of the Reformation, opium is reintroduced into
European medical literature by Paracelsus as laudanum. These black
pills or "Stones of Immortality" were made of opium thebaicum, citrus
juice and quintessence of gold and prescribed as painkillers.
1600's
Residents of Persia and India begin eating and drinking opium mixtures
for recreational use.
Portugese merchants carrying cargoes of Indian opium through Macao
direct its trade flow into China.
1606
Ships chartered by Elizabeth I are instructed to purchase the finest
Indian opium and transport it back to England.
1680
English apothecary, Thomas Sydenham, introduces Sydenham's Laudanum, a
compound of opium, sherry wine and herbs. His pills along with others
of the time become popular remedies for numerous ailments.
1700
The Dutch export shipments of Indian opium to China and the islands of
Southeast Asia; the Dutch introduce the practice of smoking opium in a
tobacco pipe to the Chinese.
1729
Chinese emperor, Yung Cheng, issues an edictprohibiting the smoking of
opium and its domestic sale, except under license for use as
medicine.
1750
The British East India Company assumes control of Bengal and Bihar,
opium-growing districts of India. British shipping dominates the opium
trade out of Calcutta to China.
1753
Linnaeus, the father of botany, first classifies the poppy, Papaver
somniferum-- 'sleep-inducing', in his book Genera Plantarum.
1767
The British East India Company's import of opium to China reaches a
staggering two thousand chests of opium per year.
1793
The British East India Company establishes a monopoly on the opium
trade. All poppy growers in India were forbidden to sell opium to
competitor trading companies.
1799
China's emperor, Kia King, bans opium completely, making trade and
poppy cultivation illegal.
1800
The British Levant Company purchases nearly half of all of the opium
coming out of Smyrna, Turkey strictly for importation to Europe and
the United States.
1803
Friedrich Sertuerner of Paderborn, Germany discovers the active
ingredient of opium by dissolving it in acid then neutralizing it with
ammonia. The result: alkaloids--Principium somniferum or morphine.
Physicians believe that opium had finally been perfected and tamed.
Morphine is lauded as "God's own medicine" for its reliablity,
long-lasting effects and safety.
1805
A smuggler from Boston, Massachusetts, Charles Cabot, attempts to
purchase opium from the British, then smuggle it into China under the
auspices of British smugglers.
1812
American John Cushing, under the employ of his uncles' business, James
and Thomas H. Perkins Company of Boston, acquires his wealth from
smuggling Turkish opium to Canton.
1816
John Jacob Astor of New York City joins the opium smuggling trade. His
American Fur Company purchases ten tons of Turkish opium then ships
the contraband item to Canton on the Macedonian. Astor would later
leave the China opium trade and sell solely to England.
1819
Writer John Keats and other English literary personalities experiment
with opium intended for strict recreational use--simply for the high
and taken at extended, non-addictive intervals
1821
Thomas De Quincey publishes his autobiographical account of opium
addiction, 'Confessions of an English Opium-eater.'
1827
E. Merck & Company of Darmstadt, Germany, begins commercial
manufacturing of morphine.
1830
The British dependence on opium for medicinal and recreational use
reaches an all time high as 22,000 pounds of opium is imported from
Turkey and India.
Jardine-Matheson & Company of London inherit India and its opium from
the British East India Company once the mandate to rule and dictate
the trade policies of British India are no longer in effect.
1837
Elizabeth Barrett Browning falls under the spell of morphine. This,
however, does not impede her ability to write "poetical paragraphs."
March 18, 1839
Lin Tse-Hsu, imperial Chinese commissioner in charge of suppressing
the opium traffic, orders all foreign traders to surrender their
opium. In response, the British send expenditionary warships to the
coast of China, beginning The First Opium War.
1840
New Englanders bring 24,000 pounds of opium into the United States.
This catches the attention of U.S. Customs which promptly puts a duty
fee on the import.
1841
The Chinese are defeated by the British in the First Opium War. Along
with paying a large indemnity, Hong Kong is ceded to the British.
1843
Dr. Alexander Wood of Edinburgh discovers a new technique of
administering morphine, injection with a syringe. He finds the effects
of morphine on his patients instantaneous and three times more
potent.
1852
The British arrive in lower Burma, importing large quantities of opium
from India and selling it through a government-controlled opium
monopoly.
1856
The British and French renew their hostilities against China in the
Second Opium War. In the aftermath of the struggle, China is forced to
pay another indemnity. The importation of opium is legalized.
Opium production increases along the highlands of Southeast Asia.
1874
English researcher, C.R. Wright first synthesizes heroin, or
diacetylmorphine, by boiling morphine over a stove.
In San Francisco, smoking opium in the city limits is banned and is
confined to neighboring Chinatowns and their opium dens.
1878
Britain passes the Opium Act with hopes of reducing opium consumption.
Under the new regulation, the selling of opium is restricted to
registered Chinese opium smokers and Indian opium eaters while the
Burmese are strictly prohibited from smoking opium.
1886
The British acquire Burma's northeast region, the Shan state.
Production and smuggling of opium along the lower region of Burma
thrives despite British efforts to maintain a strict monopoly on the
opium trade.
1890
U.S. Congress, in its earliest law-enforcement legislation on
narcotics, imposes a tax on opium and morphine.
Tabloids owned by William Randolph Hearst publish stories of white
women being seduced by Chinese men and their opium to invoke fear of
the 'Yellow Peril', disguised as an "anti-drug" campaign.
1895
Heinrich Dreser working for The Bayer Company of Elberfeld, Germany,
finds that diluting morphine with acetyls produces a drug without the
common morphine side effects.Bayer begins production of
diacetylmorphine and coins the name "heroin." Heroin would not be
introduced commercially for another three years.
Early 1900's
The philanthropic Saint James Society in the U.S. mounts a campaign to
supply free samples of heroin through the mail to morphine addicts who
are trying give up their habits.
Efforts by the British and French to control opium production in
Southeast Asia are successful. Nevertheless, this Southeast region,
referred to as the 'Golden Triangle', eventually becomes a major
player in the profitable opium trade during the 1940's.
1902
In various medical journals, physicians discuss the side effects of
using heroin as a morphine step-down cure. Several physicians would
argue that their patients suffered from heroin withdrawal symptoms
equal to morphine addiction.
1903
Heroin addiction rises to alarming rates.
1905
U.S. Congress bans opium.
1906
China and England finally enact a treaty restricting the Sino-Indian
opium trade.
Several physicians experiment with treatments for heroin addiction.
Dr. Alexander Lambert and Charles B. Towns tout their popular cure as
the most "advanced, effective and compassionate cure" for heroin
addiction. The cure consisted of a 7 day regimen, which included a
five day purge of heroin from the addict's system with doses of
belladonna delirium.
U.S. Congress passes the Pure Food and Drug Act requiring contents
labeling on patent medicines by pharmaceutical companies. As a result,
the availabilty of opiates and opiate consumers significantly
declines.
1909
The first federal drug prohibition passes in the U.S. outlawing the
imporation of opium. It was passed in preparation for the Shanghai
Conference, at which the US presses for legislation aimed at
suppressing the sale of opium to China.
February 1, 1909
The International Opium Commission convenes in Shanghai. Heading the
U.S. delegation are Dr. Hamilton Wright and Episcopal Bishop Henry
Brent. Both would try to convince the international delegation of the
immoral and evil effects of opium.
1910
After 150 years of failed attempts to rid the country of opium, the
Chinese are finally successful in convincing the British to dismantle
the India-China opium trade.
Dec. 17, 1914
The passage of Harrison Narcotics Act which aims to curb drug
(especially cocaine but also heroin) abuse and addiction. It requires
doctors, pharmacists and others who prescribed narcotics to register
and pay a tax.
1923
The U.S. Treasury Department's Narcotics Division (the first federal
drug agency) bans all legal narcotics sales. With the prohibition of
legal venues to purchase heroin, addicts are forced to buy from
illegal street dealers.
1925
In the wake of the first federal ban on opium, a thriving black market
opens up in New York's Chinatown.
1930's
The majority of illegal heroin smuggled into the U.S. comes from China
and is refined in Shanghai and Tietsin.
Early 1940's
During World War II, opium trade routes are blocked and the flow of
opium from India and Persia is cut off. Fearful of losing their opium
monopoly, the French encourage Hmong farmers to expand their opium
production.
1945-1947
Burma gains its independence from Britain at the end of World War II.
Opium cultivation and trade flourishes in the Shan states.
1948-1972
Corsican gangsters dominate the U.S. heroin market through their
connection with Mafia drug distributors. After refining the raw
Turkish opium in Marseille laboratories, the heroin is made easily
available for purchase by junkies on New York City streets.
1950's
U.S. efforts to contain the spread of Communism in Asia involves
forging alliances with tribes and warlords inhabiting the areas of the
Golden Triangle, (an expanse covering Laos, Thailand and Burma), thus
providing accessibility and protection along the southeast border of
China. In order to maintain their relationship with the warlords while
continuing to fund the struggle against communism, the U.S. and France
supply the drug warlords and their armies with ammunition, arms and
air transport for the production and sale of opium. The result: an
explosion in the availability and illegal flow of heroin into the
United States and into the hands of drug dealers and addicts.
1962
Burma outlaws opium.
1965-1970
U.S. involvement in Vietnam is blamed for the surge in illegal heroin
being smuggled into the States. To aid U.S. allies, the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) sets up a charter airline, Air America, to
transport raw opium from Burma and Laos. As well, some of the opium
would be transported to Marseille by Corsican gangsters to be refined
into heroin and shipped to the U.S via the French connection. The
number of heroin addicts in the U.S. reaches an estimated 750,000.
October 1970
Legendary singer, Janis Joplin, is found dead at Hollywood's Landmark
Hotel, a victim of an "accidental heroin overdose."
1972
Heroin exportation from Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle, controlled
by Shan warlord, Khun Sa,becomes a major source for raw opium in the
profitable drug trade.
July 1, 1973
President Nixon creates the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration)
under the Justice Dept. to consolidate virtually all federal powers of
drug enforcement in a single agency.
Mid-1970's
Saigon falls. The heroin epidemic subsides. The search for a new
source of raw opium yields Mexico's Sierra Madre. "Mexican Mud" would
temporarily replace "China White" heroin until 1978.
1978
The U.S. and Mexican governments find a means to eliminate the source
of raw opium--by spraying poppy fields with Agent Orange. The
eradication plan is termed a success as the amount of "Mexican Mud" in
the U.S. drug market declines. In response to the decrease in
availability of "Mexican Mud", another source of heroin is found in
the Golden Crescent area--Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, creating a
dramatic upsurge in the production and trade of illegal heroin.
1982
Comedian John Belushi of Animal House fame, dies of a
heroin-cocaine--"speedball" overdose.
Sept. 13, 1984
U.S. State Department officials conclude, after more than a decade of
crop substitution programs for Third World growers of marijuana, coca
or opium poppies, that the tactic cannot work without eradication of
the plants and criminal enforcement. Poor results are reported from
eradicationprograms in Burma, Pakistan, Mexico and Peru.
1988
Opium production in Burma increases under the rule of the State Law
and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), the Burmese junta regime.
The single largest heroin seizure is made in Bangkok. The U.S.
suspects that the 2,400-pound shipment of heroin, en route to New York
City, originated from the Golden Triangle region, controlled by drug
warlord, Khun Sa.
1990
A U.S. Court indicts Khun Sa, leader of the Shan United Army and
reputed drug warlord, on heroin trafficking charges. The U.S. Attorney
General's office charges Khun Sa with importing 3,500 pounds of heroin
into New York City over the course of eighteen months, as well as
holding him responsible for the source of the heroin seized in
Bangkok.
1992
Colombia's drug lords are said to be introducing a high-grade form of
heroin into the United States.
1993
The Thai army with support from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
launches its operation to destroy thousands of acres of opium poppies
from the fields of the Golden Triangle region.
October 31, 1993
Heroin takes another well-known victim. Twenty-three-year-old actor
River Phoenix dies of a heroin-cocaine overdose, the same "speedball"
combination that killed comedian John Belushi.
January 1994
Efforts to eradicate opium at its source remains unsuccessful. The
Clinton Administration orders a shift in policy away from the anti-
drug campaigns of previous administrations. Instead the focus includes
"institution building" with the hope that by "strengthening democratic
governments abroad, [it] will foster law-abiding behavior and promote
legitimate economic opportunity."
April 1994
Kurt Cobain, lead singer of the Seattle-based alternative rock band,
Nirvana, dies of heroin-related suicide.
1995
The Golden Triangle region of Southeast Asia is now the leader in
opium production, yielding 2,500 tons annually. According to U.S. drug
experts, there are new drug trafficking routes from Burma through
Laos, to southern China, Cambodia and Vietnam.
January 1996
Khun Sa, one of Shan state's most powerful drug warlords, "surrenders"
to SLORC. The U.S. is suspicious and fears that this agreement between
the ruling junta regime and Khun Sa includes a deal allowing "the
opium king" to retain control of his opium trade but in exchange end
his 30-year-old revolutionary war against the government.
November 1996
International drug trafficking organizations, including China,
Nigeria, Colombia and Mexico are said to be "aggressively marketing
heroin in the United States and Europe."
References
Booth, Martin.
Opium: A History. London: Simon & Schuster, Ltd., 1996.
Latimer, Dean, and Jeff Goldberg with an Introduction by William
Burroughs.
Flowers in the Blood: The Story of Opium. New York: Franklin Watts,
1981
McCoy, Alfred W.
The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade. New
York: Lawrence Hill Books, 1991.
Musto, David F.
The American Disease: Origins of Narcotic Control. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1987.