The First US Opioid Crisis

Dr. Lynn Price Robbins and Isaac S. Loftus sit down with historian Dr. Jonathan S. Jones to uncover the hidden history of opium use during the American Civil War. Hailed as a miracle cure for battlefield pain, opium left countless veterans battling lifelong addiction—an often-overlooked consequence of war that shaped lives long after the fighting ended. Please support this podcast by checking out our patreon: www.patreon.com/primarysourcemedia CHAPTERS: 0:00 - Introductions 1:12 - How did you choose your topic? 3:25 - The journey to discovering opium’s role 4:39 - The difference between opium and morphine 6:40 - Pre-modern medicine ear 8:25 - Opium's prevalence in the U.S. civil war medicine 10:47 - Addiction awareness in the 19th century 13:52 - Changing the perception of addiction 17:55 - Civil War Veterans and opium use 21:02 - Access to opium: The unregulated market 22:46 - Supply and Demand: Opium During the Civil War 27:00 - Medical Advancements and the Hypodermic Syringe 32:44 - International Influence on Civil War Medicine 34:19 - The Emergence of Addiction Post-Civil War 37:57 - How was Morphine Prescribed 39:54 - Responses to Addiction: A Historical Perspective 47:07 - Shifts in Perception and Treatment of Addiction 54:43 - Racial and Gender Disparities in Addiction Treatment 58:18 - The Legacy of Addiction: Lessons from History and Where to Visit 1:00:57 - Where to find Jonathon and his book EPISODE LINKS: Dr. Jonathan S. Jones - https://jonathansjones.net James Madison University - https://www.jmu.edu/history/people/all-people/jones-jonathan.shtml Opium Slavery: The Civil War, Veterans, and America’s First Opioid Crisis - https://uncpress.org/9781469689531/opium-slavery/ Opium – https://museum.dea.gov/exhibits/online-exhibits/cannabis-coca-and-poppy-natures-addictive-plants/opium-poppy Opiate v. Opioid - https://www.oregon.gov/adpc/pages/opiate-opioid.aspx Germ Theory - https://www.civilwarmed.org/germ-theory-antebellum/ Civil War Field Hospitals - https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/everyday-life-civil-war-hospital Crimean War - https://www.britannica.com/event/Crimean-War Ambrose Bierce - https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ambrose-Bierce Harrison Narcotics Tax Act - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK234755/#:~:text=The%20measure%20that%20finally%20passed,to%20pay%20a%20small%20tax. National Museum of Civil War Medicine – https://www.civilwarmed.org American Civil War Museum - https://acwm.org BlueSky – https://bsky.app/profile/jonathansjones.bsky.social Email - [e-mail] PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: 2c4hpod.com Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/2-complicated-4-history/id1664183536 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3svQpZfxhVQnYJMESpp842?si=514780ada34d4aab Full episodes playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX2x56DEw1y7EYWxfufgfSR951RrdsXet&si=TuDcpAjaeQx-vjkH SOCIAL: - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/2c4hPodcast - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/2c4h_podcast To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices