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Opium is arguably one of the world’s oldest drugs, as the opium poppy is naturally occurring. We still use opium today, heroine is considering to be the most addictive drug on the planet, and morphine is used everyday in hospitals to aid with pain. In fact, when I was in labor with my daughter my doctor gave me morphine to help with the pain!

Opium has a fascinating history, or rather evolution. Some form of opium has always been available in society, whether it be the inspiration for Romance Era poets, smoked by the working class in China, or prescribed by a doctor we have always known this special poppy. Once upon a time, opium was the cure all drug. Have menstrual craps? A tooth ache? Stub your toe? Here have some opium! Eventually, people started to notice that opium is a tad bit addictive!

Along came heroine. A man by the name of Cooke ( I believe it’s James Cooke) invented this inject-able drug as the non-addictive substitute for regular opium! The theory here was that if you take away the actual consumption or smoking aspect of opium, you take away the addictive quality. What’s even more interesting is that the first person to die of a heroine overdose was Cooke’s wife.

It really makes me think about the progression of society, all aspects. Who knows if the next big medical breakthrough is going to save thousands of lives, or rather cause thousands of deaths?

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