opium in America
When looking retrospectively at the nineteenth and twentieth centuries it is easy to recognize the numerous inventions that helped shape mankind into its present form. Inventions like electricity, the assembly line, cars and trains, the telephone and so on. We see the influence that these inventions have on us every day, because life as we know it is dependant upon these items. They play an intricate role in defining and explaining who we are as individuals, but they also define what is America or American culture. There were other items, however, that were introduced to American culture during this time period that are as important to America as the famous inventions noted before, yet they were not as public as the others nor were they as universally accepted as good. These items were mind bending narcotics, drugs that changed people's perception of the world around them. Although they did not have as wide of an influence as did the wholesome inventions, those narcotics still played an intricate role in defining and creating the American culture we know today. Many different types of narcotics have been used all over the world for centuries. The Chinese have smoked Opium for thousands of years, the native America
But many believe that these were the times when narcotics were introduced to the American public, many also believe that our national attitudes towards drugs were spawned during these decades, but that simply is not so. the opium smoking habit comes of association with unholy persons and is entered into with deliberation. Many Americans believed drugs to be a foreign plot against Americans. Another drug that is heavily shunned today but was widely accepted in the 1800's was Marijuana, or the technical term Cannabis sativa. It is ironic that the drugs that are strictly illegal today were not always looked down upon. It was the only hope for those in constant pain, many of whom were in their last hours of life. Heroin's predecessor Morphine was also used by many in the health profession and was available to anyone. Drugs claimed an entirely new role in American society; a scapegoat. ns have always used both Peyote and hallucinogenic mushrooms for religious purposes and the Rastifarians have used Marijuana as a prayer tool since the beginning of their bloodline. But once these narcotics were introduced to the general American public they integrated themselves into our culture. Opium was introduced to the American public around the beginning of the 1800's. Before this time the drug trafficking from other countries seemed an invaluable part of the economy, but once World War One broke out sentiment towards foreigners and their products changed dramatically. It first became noticed by America when many reports from Britain's medical community were heard that praised the drug and its attributes. The idea of their evil and un-American attributes were not created when people were protesting during the sixties, but rather from racist thoughts and actions prevalent during the early stages of our nation. The idea that drugs are bad was created when the medical community started to abuse them.
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