From opium to fentanyl: A global history

Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy

Chapter 7 in Research Handbook on Drugs and Society, 2026, pp 72-84 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: From the opium poppy to opium, to opiates such as morphine and codeine, and to opioids such as heroin and fentanyl, the road is long, historically, geographically and chemically. From the Neolithic to the twenty-first century, the opium poppy has been a source of drugs used both medically and recreationally. However, radical changes occurred in the nineteenth century, when morphine became the first alkaloid ever isolated and heroin the first opioid to be synthesized. This inaugurated a new drug era, first with the extraction and separation of singled-out alkaloids, such as morphine; then with the production of semi-synthetic and synthetic opiate-like alkaloids, or opioids, such as heroin or fentanyl. Overall, opium production has clearly proven resilient, despite being mostly illegal, notably because of the existence of a nexus between drug economies and war economies, as exemplified by Afghanistan and Myanmar, the world's two main illegal opium producers.

Keywords: Opium; Opioids; Production; World; History; Geography (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781802209136
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