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Article: TIME TRIP.(first Opium War)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Current Events, a Weekly Reader publication
- Article date:
- September 29, 2000
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Weekly Reader Corp. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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* In at least one instance in the past, the international drug trade was the cause of a war involving an English-speaking nation. The nation was Great Britain, and the war, fought with China, was the first Opium War (1839-1842).
* Opium, like heroin, is a product of the poppy plant. European merchants had been illegally importing opium into China since the early 1800s. This illegal trade, which resulted in widespread addiction among the Chinese and the growth of so-called "opium dens" (see drawing below), infuriated the Chinese government. "If the opium traffic is not stopped," said Lin Tse-hsu, the governor of Canton, "the country will become poorer and its ...