Compared to fentanyl, opium seems quaint by today’s standards. But in the 1800s and early 1900s, it was the cause of an epidemic of addiction all over the world. It was the cause of war (arguably still is) and also promoted as a cure for alcoholism. It was the basis for morphine, which rippled through the American civil war troops and caused decades of addiction until that was replaced by heroin. Today on the streets of Vancouver, I see people huddled together the same way 19th and 20th century opium addicts were in these photos and engravings. So similar, it makes me reflect on how our addicted friends and family are just the latest in a long line of political sacrifices meant to keep the rest of us scared and in line. We’re told drugs are bad and punished for using by the very governments who ensure the drugs keep flowing. Check out a gallery of photos and engravings from opium dens in the US, France, China, Australia, the UK, and Central Asia.
