Todayin History August 5, 2022

Author: Aoran Li the STORYTELLER

On August 5, 1813, theQing government clearly prohibited the sale and smoking of opium

The concept ofdrugs appeared only two or three hundred years ago. When it first appeared inhuman life, it was originally a drug, and even some drugs used to be good drugs,but when the use of it exceeded the limit of "reasonable" and madepeople addicted, it became a drug.

It took people along time to realize this, and the history of human anti-drugs began. But theprocess has been twists and turns, bumpy, and even detours - the replacementproducts developed to replace an addictive drug are actually more"toxic". So far, mankind has not been victorious in this fightagainst drugs. Drug control is a long way to go.

The most typicaldrug is opium. Before the birth of aspirin, opium was an important analgesic todeal with pain, and was even considered a "good medicine for alldiseases". Symptoms such as dysentery. Opium is a product of the poppy.

A long time ago,people regarded opium poppy as a medicine to treat diseases, and consciouslycultivated and produced a small amount of it. Cultivation of opium poppyemerged in the western Mediterranean around 8,000 years ago. The Sumeriansbegan to use opium in 5000 BC. At the site of a Neolithic housing estateexcavated in Switzerland from 4000 BC, archaeologists have discovered theremains of seeds and fruits of the poppy, which belonged to an artificiallyhybridized variety. In 3400 BC, in the Mesopotamia, where Iraq is today, poppywas cultivated on a large scale. According to records, in 1552 BC, an ancientEgyptian record records the use of about 700 different opium formulations.

Opium was firstrecognized as a drug around the 17th century. With the development of medicine,the proportion of opium dosage in the prescription is increasing. Europeansalso began to stimulate other uses of opium by making opium tincture, opiumwine, etc. Patients and even normal people gradually developed a physiologicaldependence on it. At this moment, opium is more than just an analgesic. Opiumhas become a drug from the time it was removed from its purely medicinal role.

With the decay ofthe Qing government, foreign powers also began to think that the "OrientalLion" had become easy to bully. In order to make money and seek profits,foreigners introduced opium into China through missionaries and foreignmerchants. Some officials, in order to buy opium, had to embezzle public fundsand pay foreigners. As a result, a large amount of silver flowed overseas,making the Qing government a heavy burden. On August 5, 1813, the Qinggovernment clearly prohibited the sale and smoking of opium. Emperor Jiaqingissued a decree saying that opium cigarettes flowed into the mainland fromforeign countries, deceived people's hearts and killed lives, and the scourgewas the same as dove poison. Profiteers are greedy for profit and trafficking,and many victims are caused by smuggling and smuggling from various customs.Although the decree has been issued in the past, the provincial customssupervision and other strict inspection and prohibition, but it has not beenstopped for several years; some customs even privately collect opium tax andsilver, isn't this a guide for those who traffic in opium? It is no wonder thatopium cigarettes are becoming more and more poisonous. From now on, in thecoastal customs in Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and other provinces, ifa traitor is found to be illegally smuggling opium cigarettes through thecustoms, once caught, the opium cigarettes will be thrown into the sea immediately,and the profiteer will be punished according to the law. If the supervision ofthe customs is violated by yang and yin, and the tax collection is privatelycollected, the governor of the province should check and participate in thestrength, and the supervisor should be dismissed first, and the post will bereported, and he will be severely punished. The people who traded opiumcigarettes in various places, the yamen commander of the infantry army ofShuntian Prefecture in the five cities, and the direct governors of theprovinces should be strictly investigated and dealt with according to the law.

However, opium wasstill smuggled everywhere in China at that time. Only, more hidden.

Drugs such as opiumwere not completely banned in China until 1950. From 1950 to 1980, China wasrated as a "non-drug country".

However, after thereform and opening up, drugs once again flowed into China through the border.At present, a special anti-drug inventory operation is being carried out acrossthe country to severely punish drug traffickers and drug addicts, punish eviland promote good, and promote justice.

I wish mankind anearly victory in this protracted war against drugs.

Today in History-August 5, 2022