Golden Triangle

History of the Opium Trade in the Region

Opium poppies are used to develop opium, heroin, and morphine, and have been used for hundreds of years the world over for medicinal and recreational purposes. The opium trade became a big business in parts of Asia throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, with a number of merchants trading in Indian opium throughout southeast Asia. After the British took control of the opium trade in India, the markets were expanded, and opium was being traded into the coastal regions of China. In trading opium in China and southeast Asia, the British attempted to impose trade agreements in the region that were favorable to their interests. In 1820, anti-opium legislation was enacted in China under the Qing Dynasty, forcing the opium trade to other, less-governed regions, thereby effectively expanding the drug markets.

By the early 19th century, recreational smoking of opium had gained popularity throughout China, and attempts to crack down on the opium trafficking eventually led to the “Opium Wars” between the Chinese and the British. The First Opium War was fought from 1839 to 1842, and a Second Opium War was fought from 1856 to 1860. Having lost in both of these conflicts, the Chinese were forced to sign treaties allowing opium to be traded throughout China. It was not until the communist party took over rule of China in the 20th century that opium was once again the target of strict legislation. This campaign against opium was largely successful and by the mid-1950s, opium cultivation was substantially reduced in China.

Combined with the waning demand for opium in China for cultural reasons, cultivation was displaced into Burma (present-day Myanmar), Thailand, and Laos. A series of political and military conflicts in the area increased the importance of and reliance on the opium trade, especially in Myanmar. By the 1970s southeast Asia had become the world's largest supplier of opium, and in 1971, this drug-producing triad began to be called the Golden Triangle.

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