Opium Inc.: How a Global Drug Trade Funded the British Empire

Opium Inc.: How a Global Drug Trade Funded the British Empire by Thomas Manuel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It all boils down to three Greek alphabets – mu, kappa and delta.
At the risk of sounding pedantic: These are G-protein coupled opioid receptors responsible for the various effects of opioids. Mu receptors in distinct brain regions such as the nucleus accumbens and basolateral amygdala trigger euphoria and the incentive properties of rewarding stimuli, playing an important role in goal-directed behaviour. As addictive behaviour develops, poor decision making and cognition impairment shift the goal directed behaviours to habitual behaviours, and lead to compulsive drug use. Kappa opioid receptors can trigger anti-reward effects and produce dysphoric effects. Delta opioid receptors can induce anxiolytic effects. So at the root of addiction behaviour lies the mu opioid receptor. End of pomposity!
The book exposes the hypocrisy of the British, the affluent Parsi community, Singapore and surprisingly, the Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, the fortunes of all these were based on the reprehensible opium trade. Christian missionaries are indicted for their active and indirect roles in the odious trade of opioids. That some of them vehemently opposed the government policies of their governments does not excuse the community of collusion to poison and denude two nations of their self-respect and natural resources.

In fact, the history of missionary activity in China is inextricable from the commercial activities of the colonial powers. The Qing administration expressly prohibited Christian missionaries from entering their lands. But, of course, just as the opium ban didn’t stop merchants, this didn’t stop the missionaries. They simply joined trading companies as employees and entered the empire under that guise…For many missionaries, the opening of trade was integral to the spread of religion…Chinese restrictions on trade went against the will of God who wanted all countries of the world to share their wealth with each other. This acted as a neat justification for him to use the full extent of his powers to aid the colonial project.

Whereas this is an scholarly review of the opium trade, Amitav Ghosh's Ibis Trilogy Sea of PoppiesRiver of SmokeFlood of Fire gives a wonderfully graphic and in-depth account of this whole sordid affair. The author pays a glowing tribute to the trilogy. It is chilling to learn of the way tea, chocolate, coffee, sugar, and opium were interlinked with each other and depended on slavery – slaves from Africa, China and India!
The writing style is very engaging and the book is not at all like an academic tome.

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