This powerful tool has been known to mankind since time immemorial. Opium or opium is a drug that is obtained on the basis of milky juice obtained from immature boxes of sleeping pills (Papaver somniferum). This feature of the plant has been known to people for many centuries. Opium is a substance that contains many alkaloids. Among them, only a part called the phenanthrene group has a narcotic effect on the human and animal body. Previously, opiates were widely used as powerful painkillers. However, due to the fact that they caused drug addiction, today they are used in official medicine only as a raw material for such medications as codeine or papaverine. On the black market, opium is in demand for obtaining heroin from it.
Translation of "opium"
Etymology says that the name opium comes from the ancient Greek ὀπός, which means "vegetable juice."
In ancient Greece, its properties were used quite widely. Hesiod, who lived in the seventh century BC, and Herodotus in the fifth century mentioned him. Even Homer himself defined opium as a drink that removes grief, allows you to forget sadness and abandon the cares of this world.
Sumerians and Odysseus
Scientists have come to the conclusion that opium is a remedy that has been known to people over the past six millennia! After all, his action as a sleeping pill was also mentioned by the Sumerians on their clay tablets. In the Minoan culture, they also understood poppy. This is confirmed by archaeological finds. So, in the hands of one of the ancient statuettes you can see the head of this plant. Hippocrates wrote about him. With the help of opium, as some scholars believe, it drank Odysseus and his companions Circe in the work of Homer.
Procession in Asia
In southern Asia, the drug came into use thanks to Alexander the Great (fourth century BC). It was the troops of the famous commander who brought there the culture of using the product, and the plant itself. Already in the first millennium AD, this addiction spread to India and China. And in Southeast Asia, drug smoking has become popular, replacing its use inside.
And again - to Europe
The meaning of the word "opium" was also known to Paracelsus. Researchers are inclined to believe that the first medication in Europe, which was made from "milk", was prescribed to the patient exactly it (in the XVI century). Paracelsus called this substance “the stone of immortality” and often used it in practice. Paracelsus called laudanum a medicinal tincture based on alcohol and poppy. This remedy was considered a panacea for all ailments long three centuries. It was used for weakness, exhaustion, insomnia, excessive agitation, with cough and diarrhea, with bleeding and pain. As you can see, an incredibly wide range. The revelation-publication of “Confessions of an Opiophage,” written by Tom de Quincy, was published in 1821 (the poet himself died from abuse of the aforementioned laudanum). However, opium did not immediately disappear from pharmaceuticals. The peak of its use in Europe came at the end of the XIX century. At this time, morphine was freely available in pharmacies.
Opium: what is it
The technology for making the potion is quite simple. It has not undergone major changes over the past centuries. The remedy is obtained from the so-called "sleepy" poppy. Its heads in an unripe form are cut, but only after the petals fall. The white substance, resembling a resin in its consistency, hardens and darkens when dried. This is a popular drug in the past that contains morphine with codeine and papaverine together. There are about twenty components of an alkaloid nature in the poppy.
Where is grown
In the modern world, the main poppy plantations for this substance are in the Golden Triangle, which includes Laos with Burma and part of Thailand. The country where most opium is produced is Afghanistan. There, crop areas exceed all coca plantations in Latin America. According to statistics, in 2006 Afghanistan produced more than 90 percent of the total volume of raw materials in the world. It is noteworthy that there are few local people who consider the cultivation of poppies as something illegal.
In the Union and in the post-Soviet space
On the territories of the USSR (and after its collapse), industrial poppy plantations were in Kyrgyzstan (Issyk-Kul region). Scientists have developed new breeding varieties of plants, for example, the early one - Przhevalsky-222. The technique was also improved, which allows to obtain about 35 kilograms of raw from each ha of poppy seeds. This corresponds to 5 kilograms of morphine in its purest form. Back in 1953, the USSR entered the seven countries - official exporters of opium. A curious fact: in a socialist country, tincture of opium as a means for the stomach was banned only in 1952!
Status in the legal field
Today, only drugs are officially produced from purified alkaloids. Their vacation is limited by special laws. The drug is officially listed as a drug. Their circulation in the Russian Federation is prohibited, according to international treaties.
Effects on the human body
When people begin to use opium, all problems seem to go away, calm, satisfaction appears. The person who used the dose of the drug begins to feel that he is the most needed and the best in the world. This is a clear sign that drugs (both opium and heroin) have influenced changes in the body that have reached a critical stage.
According to the assurances of heavy drug addicts, opium can be adored, and hated in a few minutes, cursing the very day that this drug entered life. As soon as its action ends, all the colors of the day fade, and fear and hopelessness take hold of the person. It is not surprising that people are eager to get another dose in order to return to the ghostly world of happiness again.
It is important to remember that the life of an addict, according to statistics, is shorter by 10-14 years. These people lose their family, work, themselves, becoming like zombies. Therefore, you need to think carefully about whether to try opium. In life, there are hundreds of other ways to diversify your leisure.