Opium is a green liquid substance obtained from a plant, the poppy. This liquid has alkaloids (for example, codeine and morphine), from which it is possible to extract drugs in the form of opiates, for example morphine.
Opium, between health and addiction
Throughout history, opium has had two different uses: as a medicine and as a drug. Already in ancient civilizations its analgesic and tranquilizing effects were known: it was used to calm pain, to make children sleep, against diarrhea and today it is applied in the form of morphine in some cancer treatments.
The opium drug
Opium as a drug is consumed in several ways: smoking it together with hashish and tobacco, in pills, in powder form, in the form of morphine to be injected into a vein, in heroin, etc. Its main effect is a feeling of intense relaxation, accompanied by an absence of pain and a state of drowsiness and, curiously, it is an enhancer of libido, that is, of sexual appetite. Although it does not produce hallucinations (which does occur with the consumption of LSD and other drugs), it has an addictive component and, consequently, the dependent person may suffer from withdrawal syndrome (depressive states, vomiting and general physical discomfort) .
Opium dens
The Chinese have used opium since ancient times. Starting in the 19th century, different migratory waves of Chinese followed one another. One of the most important is the one that occurred in the western United States, when around 1850 gold was discovered in California (the mythical gold rush). Opium smoking establishments were established in the city of San Francisco and this custom spread to other cities around the world.
The opium dens were frequented by people from different social strata. Smokers inhaled opium vapor in long pipes and sat, seeking escape and relaxation of body and mind. These establishments were legal for about two decades and then went underground (usually hidden in the basement of a legal business).
The environment of the opium dens attracted the attention of creators and intellectuals and some writers have told in their novels the environment and the characters of this world (among them Conan Doyle in some Sherlock Holmes stories or the great Alan Poe in his stories) .
For opium smokers, the intense pleasure they feel is preferable to the consumption of alcohol, since in drunkenness the control of the mind disappears and with the effect of opium there is a state of lucidity and peace.
