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It starts before that. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 caused many opium poppy planters to move to Mexico. During WW1, WW2, the high demand for opioid-based
by partycoder 8y ago
It starts before that.
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 caused many opium poppy planters to move to Mexico.
During WW1, WW2, the high demand for opioid-based analgesics like morphine resulted in increased opium planting.
Why were there opium poppy planters in the US in the first place? Opium poppy is not a plant that is not endemic to the Americas. It starts with the opium wars, where the British fought to force China into tolerating their opium trade at the cost of millions of people becoming addicted.