The Opium Wars

We tend to think that organized drug trafficking is something that just started recently — maybe a hundred years ago or so. But in the 17 and 1800s, British merchants were buying opium from India and selling it to people in China for a huge profit. By the mid-1800s the Chinese government started to see large numbers of its people becoming addicted to this dangerous drug that turned hard-working citizens into unproductive burdens. When the Chinese tried to fight back against the British, they found out exactly how far an imperial power will go to hang onto that power.