The Cultural Impact and Use of Opium

The Cultural impact and use of opium. If you trace the origins of Opium back to a certain date, you’ll find that you're going to be going a long way back. Opium has been used for many centuries and was a key asset and even was the reason behind certain organizations' fall from power. The use of opium is no secret; it started, like most drugs do as a cure for an illness or ailment. However, after a while, people began to discover its true properties and began finding themselves using it for other purposes. Perhaps the biggest thing to take from this part is the fact that from back then to now, people continue to abuse drugs, especially opium, which of course has made its way into today’s society as a more lethal compound of a drug called heroin. However, as we go back through time, we notice that the influence of opium was so great that it caused two wars. First, the was the Opium War from 1839 to 1842 and the Second Opium War from 1856 to 1860. It was these wars that separated China from the rest of the world. The Opium Wars were not just about the drug itself but what else they represented, which was the civilization of China as a whole and the balance between nations, especially between the British.

The influence and impact of opium has taken cities by storm and cultivated a flurry of outbreaks throughout Britain and Eastern Asia, as well as other places all around the world. The main source, spread, and usage of opium, however, can be traced back to China. The Chinese relied heavily on opium so much that it caused two wars and left a big mark on the culture today as well. One of the main reasons I didn't write Opium Warfare because of the drugs' checkered past, but because of the overall impact it caused and the fact that it's rolled into the present day today and we here in America face the same struggles with drugs as they did in China with opium all those years ago. However, let it be understood and noted that my book is, of course, written of fiction. While the location and places are real, the purpose of the book is to entertain and also enlighten the reader. To entertain them with a tale of a fictional 1920s Shanghai, but to also perhaps tell the tale that reads all too close to home, from the fact that opium is still alive and used today, and that back then, talks of it were fascinating, to which the people did not see the fears we face today. The book’s foundation and the main plot are just that, mixing in the past and the present to create a medium that is 1920s Shanghai.

For more information on the origin, usage, and impact of Opium in China

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