The drug was not illegal in Britain. "Prior to 1916, there were no restrictions on the possession and use of cocaine, opium and other psychoactive drugs in Bri

The drug was not illegal in Britain. "Prior to 1916, there were no restrictions on the possession and use of cocaine, opium and other psychoactive drugs in Britain; the Poisons and Pharmacy Act of 1908 stipulated only that pharmacists had to have been introduced to prospective buyers by someone known to them, and must record their names and addresses in a poisons register." http://ww1centenary.oucs.ox.ac.uk/body-and-mind/drugs-and-dora-2/ http://ww1centenary.oucs.ox.ac.uk/body-and-mind/drugs-and-do... I don't think that British traders selling opium to Chinese buyers in the 1800s was inherently more deplorable than Canadians selling liquor to Americans during Prohibition. What was deplorable about the Opium Wars and the Prohibition era gangs was the use of violence. If it had just been the era of Opium Smuggling instead of the Opium Wars I wouldn't fault Britain's behavior. But Britain did, deplorably, use military force when Chinese authorities prohibited and confiscated imported opium. That was inexcusable.