Author Description

"Many Chinese-American historians have tended to shy away from the subject of Chinese opium use in 19th century North America entirely and so have their counterparts in Asia. Opium use among Chinese immigrants was widespread, economically important, and -- until 1908-9 -- perfectly legal in most parts of the United States and Canada. Opium made hard lives more bearable and, perhaps due to easy availability and modest prices, seems not to have caused nearly as much violent crime as alcohol did then or as opioid drugs like heroin and fentanyl do nowadays. Our discussion focused on the abundant texts and artifacts relating to opium found at Chinese sites on this continent. As of now, more hard data on Chinese opium use is available at those sites than anywhere else in the world, including China itself. We have made several important discoveries when summarizing that data. For one thing, opium was not a profitable commodity in the U.S. and Canada during the 19th century. For another, as has not been previously recognized, the containers and equipment associated with the drug can quite easily be traced to their sources. Historians and archaeologists will find such information essential to their work"--