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1500
First Perception Pain Medication
The first pain medication that was prescribed was known as laudanum. This drug was a mixture of opium poppy in an alcoholic solution. An alchemist Paracelsus created the drug laudanum. Later this drug was simplified so that it could be classified as a cure-all medication. -
The First use of Morphine
Morphine first started as an extract from opium in a pure form. This was a highly used drug during the Civil War. The only issue was many did not realize morphine was a highly addictive drug at the time, and many soldiers ended up becoming addicted to the drug. -
The Opium Wars
The Opium Wars were a series of battles between the western powers and China. The reason for these wars starting was because the Western Powers wanted to trade Opium to China. China then proceded to ban opium and destroyed around 1400tons of the drug. China banned opium because they already had a widespread addiction to Opium which was causing major social and economic disruption.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Opium-Wars -
Origin of Heroin
Heroin was synthesized from Morphine, which had been created from Opium, by an English chemist, but it was not sold commercially until 1898. They had created Heroin in place of Morphine and Opium because they were so addictive, but it turned out that Heroin was also highly addictive.
https://methoide.fcm.arizona.edu/infocenter/index.cfm?stid=174 -
The U.S. bans Opium
Opium was banned by the United States under the Pure Food and Drug Act. They banned Opium under the pretext that all medicines needed to have labeling contents. The Opium trade continued to boom, however, and by 1995 Southeast Asia was producing 2500 tons annually.
https://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/painkillers/a-short-history.html