Portland Public Library

Opium, how an ancient flower shaped and poisoned our world, John H. Halpern, MD, and David Blistein

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 277-315) and index

contains biographical information

mapsillustrationsportraitsplates

index present

non fiction

Opium

bibliography

1110700164

John H. Halpern, MD, and David Blistein

how an ancient flower shaped and poisoned our world

Opioid addiction is fast becoming the most deadly crisis in American history. In 2017, it claimed nearly fifty thousand lives--more than gunshots and car crashes combined, and almost as many Americans as were killed in the entire Vietnam War. But even as the overdose crisis ravages our nation--straining our prison system, dividing families, and defying virtually every legislative solution to treat it--few understand how it came to be. Opium tells the extraordinary and at times harrowing tale of how we arrived at today's crisis, "mak[ing] timely and startling connections among painkillers, politics, finance, and society" (Laurence Bergreen). The story begins with the discovery of poppy artifacts in ancient Mesopotamia, and goes on to explore how Greek physicians and obscure chemists discovered opium's effects and refined its power, how colonial empires marketed it around the world, and eventually how international drug companies developed a range of powerful synthetic opioids that led to an epidemic of addiction. Throughout, Dr. John Halpern and David Blistein reveal the fascinating role that opium has played in building our modern world, from trade networks to medical protocols to drug enforcement policies. Most importantly, they disentangle how crucial misjudgments, patterns of greed, and racial stereotypes served to transform one of nature's most effective painkillers into a source of unspeakable pain-and how, using the insights of history, state-of-the-art science, and a compassionate approach to the illness of addiction, we can overcome today's overdose epidemic. This urgent and masterfully woven narrative tells an epic story of how one beautiful flower became the fascination of leaders, tycoons, and nations through the centuries and in their hands exposed the fragility of our civilizationIn 2017, opioid addiction claimed nearly fifty thousand lives. Even as the overdose crisis ravages our nation, few understand how it came to be. Halpern and Blistein begin with the discovery of poppy artifacts in ancient Mesopotamia, and go on to explore how Greek physicians and obscure chemists discovered opium's effects and refined its power, how colonial empires marketed it around the world, and eventually how international drug companies developed a range of powerful synthetic opioids that led to an epidemic of addiction. More importantly, they examine how we can overcome today's overdose epidemic. -- adapted from jacket

Part 1. Opium in antiquity. The mysterious origins of the opium poppy ; Papyruses and poppies ; A journey around the Mediterranean -- Part 2. Opium and the birth of modern medicine. Classic cures, ancient addictions ; A little light on the "Dark Ages" ; Opium's golden age ; The monarch of medicine -- Part 3. Opium goes global. Marco Polo and the rise of global commerce ; "The spice trade was in reality the drug trade" ; The two most addictive drugs on Earth ; The spice race ; The queen and her company ; A 5,000-year tradition of medicine and moderation ; Opening the China market ; Great Britain "invades" China -- Trading opium in Canton : "the complicated machinery of evasion" -- Part 4. The opium wars. Two letters that could have prevented a war ; Five roads to war ; The first drug war -- Part 5. The agony and the ecstasy. America enters the opium business ; Generosity and greed ; Americans try growing their own ; Good intentions, tragic results ; The agony and the ecstasy -- Part 6. Laws and disorder. America's first failed drug laws ; Drug hysteria and race-based enforcement : the Harry Anslinger story ; The war nobody's ever won ; The $1 trillion question : what do we do now?