Definition of Opium

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Opium: An addictive narcotic drug derived from the unripe seedpods of the opium poppy. Preparations of opium were called laudanum. Derivatives of laudanum include paregoric (a drug to treat diarrhea), morphine and heroin.

For centuries, opium was used as a painkiller in the Middle and Far East. It gained great popularity in Europe and the European colonies in the 18th century and became a main ingredient in patent medicines that patients could easily obtain without a prescription. Many people became addicted. Civil War soldiers in pain from wounds often received morphine. By 1900, it is estimated that more than 200,000 people in the US were addicted to opium and its derivatives. The US Congress passed a law in 1909 prohibiting the manufacture and sale of opium.