Opium

A plant that secretes a latex that can be manufactured into various legal drugs but also the infamous drug heroin. It has been used as recreational drug in China dating back as far as 1483 and even as far back as ancient Egypt. Chinere opium dens have become a stereotype among popular culture. In China in corresponded with tobacco consumption. It became a luxury drug that the elite would smoke. They would claim that it was for medical purposes, namely male potency. Popularity reached its peak in the 18th century despite the fact that it had been ousted as a medicine, and had been banned on repeated occasions. Arguments over trade of opium lead to the opium wars between England and China. When immigration began to the united states the Chinese along with many other easterners brought with them the tradition of opium smoking. Cities like San Fransisco developed their own opium dens with the same elegant feel as their sisters in the east. During the reign of Mao Zedong the production of opimun shifted south to countries like Vietnam.