Opium And The Construction Of Narcotic Drug Regulatory System In Britain(1804-1908)

The medicinal use of opium has a long history.In the late Middle Ages,opium was widely recognized for its sedative and pain-relieving properties.By the 19 th century,due to the continuation of medicinal traditions,the immaturity of the medical profession and the popularity of self-medication,opium became the cornerstone of orthodox medicine and self-medication in Britain,and was known as the “panacea”for all diseases.Under the influence of classical liberalism,opium consumption in Britain was unrestricted and rose rapidly,from 20,000 pounds in 1830 to nearly50,000 pounds in 1840.At this time,a variety of opiates were available in Britain,covering essentially all drug forms.These opiates were known by different names,had different formulations and manufacturing processes,and contained varying amounts of opium.Although medical consumption of opium dominated,the line between therapeutic and recreational drug use was very blurred in practice.Those responsible for the sale of opium were diverse,ranging from professional apothecaries,chemists,and druggists to a variety of “informal” medical practitioners and others from all walks of life who had a desire to sell and practice opium.However,the unrestricted distribution and sale of opium,a dangerous drug that has the dual nature of medicine and drug,is inevitably to lead to many problems.In terms of salespeople,the pharmaceutical industry was still lacking in supervision,resulting in an increasing number of chemists and druggists without professional knowledge of drugs and medicines undertaking the daily retail sale.The mistaken sale of opium through carelessness or ignorance often occurred.In terms of usage behavior,social esteem and public affection had led to a steady rise in opium consumption,which had led to the emergence of public health problems such as accidental poisoning,suicide,and social security problems such as manslaughter and murder.In terms of drug quality,the problem of opium adulteration was becoming more and more serious,which increased the possibility of opium poisoning and affected the effectiveness of treatment,while also seriously threatening the public morality and commercial image.In response to the opium problem in Britain,the government began to explore specific ways to regulate opium from the 1850 s onward.The attempt began with regulating the admission qualification of opium sellers,gradually expanded to restrict the daily sale of opium and supplemented by combating the adulteration of opium and formulating drug standards.The three complemented each other to build the embryonic form of the Britain narcotic drug regulatory system.Through the promulgation of a series of acts,the daily sale of opium was restricted to professionals registered under the Pharmaceutical Act of 1868,and the sales process was subject to certain restrictions.Drug adulteration was also brought into special legislation management,and public health problems caused by accidental opium poisoning had been significantly improved.With the popularization of hypodermic injection of morphia,the way of using opium has changed.The problem of opiate addiction became apparent and the medical knowledge of addiction continued to accumulate.Against this backdrop,the society began to debate whether addiction was a “vice” or a “disease” as it explored the causes of addiction.Moralists saw the opiate addiction as a moral degradation of the individual,a lack of moral judgment and ability for moral action,while medical practitioners interpreted addiction in medical terms and viewed addiction as a disease.Eventually,the addiction disease theory was gradually recognized by the public,and the regulatory measures for narcotic drug were further improved,and the safety of the public was further safeguarded.The government’s regulation of narcotic drug,represented by opium,has achieved certain results.First,it established the principle of government regulation of narcotic drug and the concept of legalized control,in which the medical-oriented feature was also embedded in the subsequent legislation,thus forming the British drug control system in the 1920 s.Second,it promoted the acceleration of the professionalization of medicine and the independence of the pharmaceutical profession,which made the definition of the medical profession clearer.Third,the regulation system contributed to the change of opium policy in the British colonial country and provided the scientific basis for the cessation of opium trade with China.Although the regulation involved all aspects of personnel,scope and quality,the narcotic drug regulatory system constructed in Britain at this time was still very young and had many loopholes.Firstly,due to the interest involvement and confrontation between medical and pharmaceutical professions,the process of regulating opiates was tardiness.Secondly,there were still omissions in the content of legal regulation,and some opiates,including patent medicine,were still in an unregulated state.Finally,most of the legal policies focused on the retail sale of narcotic drug,but did not mention the management measures for users and addicts,so that the problem of narcotic drugs was not solved.In conclusion,the regulation system of narcotic drug is the product of a multi-party struggle.Although it retains the undertones of laissez-faire,the historical complexity of the formation of social policies and the logic of the development of modern British society in compromise can still be well revealed through the combing and study of narcotic drug regulation policies.