THE POPPY FIELDS of OLD CHINA -- The Fisrt Step in the Production of Opium, Morphine, and Heroin

THE POPPY FIELDS of OLD CHINA -- The Fisrt Step in the Production of Opium, Morphine, and Heroin
Originally uploaded by Okinawa Soba

Ca.1900 image. Photographer unknown.

Before there were the OPIUM WARS of the 19th Century, China was was the recipient of illegally imported OPIUM to the tune of 900 tons a year. No matter how much the Chinese Government (located in the North) tried to stop it with laws and decrees, it just kept pouring in through the south...mainly smuggled in by the BRITISH. This led to war, which the British won, after which Opium became the life of the party for an entire nation.