Find out more on how opium spread throughout the world. Find out it's whole history, how it got discovered and what were it's purposes of usage. Read more on opium's timeline http://gettreatment.com/opium-timeline.html

1. Opium Timeline
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy (Papaver
Somniferum). The immature seed pod are cut (scored), which makes
the latex leak out. It then dries into opium.
2014 CE
Opiates cause 47,055
(63%) of drug overdose
deaths in the US alone.
47,055
4200 BCE
Opium Poppy was
grown throughout Swit-
zerland, Germany, and
Spain. Later finds were in the
Bronze Age and Iron Age.
1906 CE
U.S. Congress passes
the Pure Food and Drug
Act requiring labeling by
pharmaceutical companies. As
a result, the availability of opi-
ates and their consumption
declines significantly.
1890 CE
U.S. Congress
imposes a tax on opium
and morphine. “Anti-drug”
campaigns start.
1803 CE
Friedrich Sertuerner
of Paderborn first dis-
solves opium in acid, then
neutralizing it with ammonia,
discovered morphine. He called
it “God’s own medicine” for its
reliability, long-lasting effects,
and safety.
Friedrich
Sertuerner
China
India
1600 CE
Residents of Persia
and India begin eating
and drinking opium mixtures
for recreational use. In China,
people smoked opium with
tobacco. The Chinese society
recognizes addiction for the first
time.
Persia
1300 CE
During the Holy
Inquisition, opium disap-
pears from the European
historical record because any-
thing coming from the East
was linked to the Devil.
460 BCE
Hippocrates dismiss-
es the magical attributes
of opium but underlines its
effects as a medicine.
Hippocrates
1729 CE
Chinese emperor,
Yung Cheng issues an
edict prohibiting the smok-
ing of opium and its domestic
sale, except under license for
use as medicine.
Yung
Cheng
1500 CE
A medicine called
Laudanum was a solution
of opium in ethanol.
200 CE
Galen of Pergamon,
Greek physician, surgeon,
and philosopher in the
Roman Empire notes how
opium "cures epilepsy, asthma,
leprosies."
Galen of
Pergamon
1000 CE
Al-Zahrawi, known as
the father of surgery,
describes opium as a surgi-
cal anesthetic.
Al-Zahrawi
800 BCE
The Odyssey by
Homer describes opium
as a cure for Telemachus’
depression after failing to find
Odysseus.
Homer
1300 BCE
Egyptians begin
cultivation of opium. The
opium trade flourishes
during the reign of Thutmose
IV, Akhenaton, and King Tut-
ankhamen. The opium trade
finds its way to Greece, Car-
thage, and Europe.
King
Tutankhamen
Akhenaton Thutmose IV
1100 BCE
Cyprus harvests
opium.
Cyprus
1300 BCE
In various statues
and pictures, Minoan and
Greek gods are often hold-
ing or wreathed in poppy
pods.
3400 BCE
First known cultiva-
tion of opium poppies in
Mesopotamia, by Sumerians.
They called it the “joy plant”
Mesopotamia
2800 BCE
Egyptian society
restricted magicians,
priests, and warriors from
using opium. Isis treated Ra's
headache with opium.
3000 BCE
Opium appeared to
have ritual significance.
Anthropologists have specu-
lated ancient priests may have
used the drug as a proof of
healing power.
2400 BCE
The Assyrians col-
lected poppy juice in the
morning after scoring the
pods with an iron scoop.
3,000 BCE
2,000 BCE
1,000 BCE
0
1,000 CE
2,000 CE
4,000 BCE
Get Treatment Get Treatment GetTreatments gettreatment
http://gettreatment.com/the-opium-timeline.html