Background Of The Problem Of Opium

Heroin and opioids have grown in appearance in communities. Since, 2008 in Allegheny County alone there was more than two thousand overdose deaths, with one hundred-seventy-seven deaths in this year alone (Pennsylvania). Furthermore, in 2015 there was only one -hundred-twenty-six;

Heroin is a painkilling drug that is made from the Papaverum Somniferum, also known as the opium poppy plant. All opiates are addictive painkillers. Heroin starts as a milky sap of the opium poppy. The sap is then dried and becomes a gum. After washing the gum, it becomes opium. Morphine and codeine are two painkilling alkaloids that

A huge epidemic that is obtaining a lot of attention from Congress and medical professionals across the county is the spiking heroin overdoses that are rising at alarming rates. (Krisberg, 2014). My question to everyone that is researching this topic is this:

This literature review will focus mainly on the drug use of heroin, the scary numbers behind the drug and the sudden rise of overdosing on the drug across the United States. Issues that will be discussed are what is Heroin, what’s in Heroin that makes it addicting, how it can increase the users risk of contracting other life threatening diseases and where it’s use and abuse are most popular across the United states and we will take a look at multiple studies that show examples of our new drug problem in the United States. While we looked at how homicide rates have dropped while in class, the flip side to that is that the amount of drug usage has risen.

“...from that moment on I didn't take heroin because I wanted to, I took it because I needed to.” Heroin is a highly addictive, illegal drug that comes from the opium plant. In just the year 2014, 12,000 people in the United States died from heroin overdoses. The York County community has made a big effort to help fight the heroin epidemic, but despite these efforts the county is clearly still struggling with over 60 overdose deaths last year. Some of the efforts York County is making include the use of NARCAN, drug drop boxes, the Good Samaritan law and treatment courts.

The opium problem in China during the nineteenth century was primarily viewed as an issue created by foreign traders bringing opium into their empire. Zhu Zun and Xu Naiji wrote memoranda in 1863 elucidating their diverging view to the government on how to combat the issue of opium use and trade. Xu advocated for the relaxing of anti-opium laws as a means of reducing illegal smuggling, while Zhu contends that more stringent enforcement of anti-opium laws is the preferable policy, which Commissioner Lin supports in his edict to foreign traders.

From the ancient Egyptians to Alexander the Great to World War II medics, the opium poppy has been used for its unmatched pain relieving qualities. Opium is the juice extracted from the opium poppy. It contains alkaloids such as morphine and codeine. These alkaloids carry intense analgesic (painkilling) capabilities but also contain intense euphoria and addictive qualities. Opium has analgesic qualities, which are second to none, however, because of its addictive qualities it is pertinent that doctors find an alternative to opioid drugs and prevent further addiction problems.

The thought of opium as a topic of conversation in China throughout the late eighteenth century and nineteenth century brought about discussions that varied from arguments for its legalization and praise of its distributors to the complete ban of the drug and punishment for all users and smugglers. For those who acted as proponents of the narcotic, they sincerely believed that this necessary evil was one of the only aspects of the economy that could effectively propel China into the same class as that of the world’s supreme powers (Janin 6). Those who condemned even the slightest interaction with opium or its derivatives opted for the more “honorable” route, in that, they pledged to rid their country of such horrible vices in order to

Opium is made from the opium poppy. It is specifically made from the white substance found in the poppies. Then the liquid is dried to become what we know as Opium. It is used to make many other drugs including heroin. Opium is also known as Big O and joy plant. It is categorized as a schedule two drug which means it is pretty easy to get addicted too. The ways of taking Opium include through the mouth by either smoking it or taking a pill, and/or injecting it through the skin.

The Opium wars were a series of conflicts mainly between China and Britain. The dispute was over the legalization of the Opium trade. China’s people were severely suffering from the effects of the Opium. Britain had been illegally moving opium from India into China. A large mass of the public had become addicted to opioids and the government sensed the problem. Due to the success of the opium trade, Britain refused to stop bringing in the Opium. The conflict between the two countries sparked the two part Opium Wars. The first Opium war resulted in many different unsteady treaties, many of which were seen as unfair to the Chinese. The second Opium War was a result of British greed. The Chinese were preoccupied with the Taiping Rebellion, so the British decided to take advantage of the situation and push the opium trade further, resulting in further conflict. The French decided to join the British in the fighting, and the Chinese were left defeated and forced into negotiations. Both wars resulted in series of treaties, but each war’s treaties had different impacts and affected people in different ways.

The Chinese government should legalize Opium for the common people. Over the years during the 1800s, China had remained fairly isolated in their trade (Textbook). China began to import and export goods, however only for the benefit of their country (Textbook). As China became more interested in trading with Europe, they began importing Opium in exchange for their silver (Textbook). China saw many benefits to the popie based substance, opium, such as its use as a pain reliever (Textbook). Opium was a highly addictive substance (Textbook). If Opium is made illegal, due to its addictive properties, there would become an extreme black market for the substance causing the Chinese government havick (Naiji). Many will trade outside of the country

Opium was obtained from the anti-drug office of Police and GC-mass spectrometry was used to analysis the opium. The obtained opium composed of about 30% alkaloids (morphine 15%, thebaine 4.4%, codeine 5.2% and papaverine 3.7%,) and the remainder consisted of non- alkaloidal organic and non-organic substances with 15.5% water

Opium is a narcotic drug produced from the drying resin of unripe capsules of the opium poppy, Papaver Somniferum. The major constituent of opium is morphine, and these molecules have pain-killing properties similar to those of compounds called endorphins produced in the body. Several used it as a therapeutic drug to relieve depression, as well as physical pain. Opiates first produce a feeling of pleasure and euphoria, which is part of what is responsible for the psychological drive of certain people use this drug. By the 17th century, opium was used strictly for medication in Western Europe, but by the end of the 17th century, addiction became more widespread. At this time, the specific effects of opium on the human body and mind

The opium trade has been a trade that has evolved throughout history with changing of who controls the supply and how the trade is done. Drug trade has been a controversial topic as it has been a main source of revenue for people and a major conflict socially and politically. The drug itself has been proven to be harmful and caused several side effects with people suffering from withdrawal and mental problems. The drug has caused Even with the harmful effects of the drug opium has become a major resource of revenue for India with the start of the Opium trade in India has been gaining major profit and with that as their main supply of wealth began to have a monopoly of their product of Opium. Since they were influenced to traffic the drug by one of their council members they have used that as a main source of revenue. The opium trade is a major part of their economy as

The East India Company was established by the British and then monopolized the trades towards the China. As the trades could not fulfil the ambition of the British, they requested for more benefits. However, the Qing court rejected and the relationship between the two countries came to a rapid deterioration. Unfortunately, after the out broke of the war, China became weaker than before.