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GrapeSoda223 t1_iznx15l wrote

Tldr they exported cigarettes laced with opium to china so people would become addicted to their brand, that brand was banned in Japan

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unassumingdink t1_izo8brc wrote

Imagine if cigarette smokers got addicted to something. It would be chaos!

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[deleted] t1_izo51tp wrote

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[deleted] t1_izp20sr wrote

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[deleted] t1_izp62i9 wrote

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[deleted] t1_izp81ny wrote

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[deleted] t1_izoupa4 wrote

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jjdajetman t1_izp2bvl wrote

Thank you. The post was pay walled for me. I guessed it was exploding cigarettes. I assume the only impact here was the company made a lot of money.

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Chairman-Dao t1_izpeent wrote

flavored nicotine vapes are banned in China but exported in massive quantities to the USA

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DaPino t1_izn65bd wrote

15 paragraphs of exposition before they get to the point.
Man that was a tough read.

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matthieuC t1_izuv8xi wrote

That's an issue with a lot of long form articles.

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War_Hymn t1_izmxiwg wrote

I just wanted to mention that in the period between the 1830s to the end of WWII, China was basically the largest unregulated narcotic market in the entire world. Concessions to foreign powers left the Chinese government(s) unable to restrict or stop shipments of foreign narcotics coming into their country (or unwilling, as they were often involved and benefited from the trade itself) .

Every major nation wanted to get in on the action. The British having defeated the Chinese in war and forced them to accept their opium, were eagerly joined by the French, Dutch, Americans, Germans, and of course, Japanese. By the start of the 20th century, these foreign narcotic importers were moving on to harder stuff - morphine, heroin, and cocaine had been developed and they flooded the enormous Chinese market with the new drugs.

For them, the stronger potency of these refined drugs meant less bulk and weight had to be shipped to serve their overseas markets. The Dutch set up coca plantations on Java to directly produce refined cocaine for the Asiatic market. Japan, not wanting to miss out on the action, also started coca plantations in their new colony of Formosa (modern-day Taiwan). By 1920, it is estimated that combined heroin and cocaine imports into China amounted to 1500 tonnes per year.

Luckily for the Chinese, the Americans after WWI were heading international efforts and treaties to curb the global narcotic trade. Having experienced the bane of epidemic substance abuse in the aftermath of the American Civil War - and now seeing a resurgence of it in returning American soldiers at the end of the Great War, American politicians were adamant in pushing the British and other foreign powers to put a stop to their involvement in the global drug trade. Drugs that were prohibited in their own home countries, but which they hypocritically had no qualms selling and pushing to the Chinese and even their own colonies (the French colonial government directly distributed opiates to their Vietnamese and Laotian subjects in French Indochina).

The British and other powers whinge and moaned about the proposals to impede or stop their lucrative trade and tried to stall, but American eventually strong-armed them to signing and ratifying the first set of international anti-narcotic treaties in modern history. For the British, pressure had ironically, come in the form of Japanese cocaine that was flooding their colony of India, starting massive and disruptive drug epidemics there.

The French signed, but continued to distribute opiates to their colonial possessions in Indochina - even while the colony was being invaded and occupied by the Japanese during WWII. This odd situation gave the cooperating French colonial government the bright idea of growing and refining opium in Indochina itself instead of importing it from the now blockaded Middle East, laying the seeds of what will eventually be known as the Golden Triangle.

The Japanese, who signed these same treaties - continued to allow their firms to produce and distribute cocaine and opiates on the international market - now getting a bigger piece of the pie as other foreign powers had pulled out from the trade due to American pressure. When confronted by the other powers about their continuation in the trade, they simply shrugged their shoulders and acted innocent (even when seized drug shipments had boxes and packaging bearing the emblem of Japanese pharmaceutical firms). For China, their situation would have to worsen before getting better, as invasion and occupation by the Japanese bought increased availability of narcotic drugs to the country's millions of addicts.

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DaveyGee16 t1_izncxvu wrote

Some of your ideas and characterizations are wrong. In fact, pretty much everything you wrote is wrong.

Heroin, cocaine and morphine were not “harder stuff” and weren’t designed for export to China. They were available off the shelf pretty much everywhere in Europe, North America and the rest of the world.

Cocaine didn’t become a controlled drug in the U.S. until 1914, 1920 in the U.K.

Your ideas on heroin are wholesale wrong, it was first synthesized in 1874, it wasn’t commercialized until 1895. It was banned in 1924 in the U.S. but was available off the shelf until then. 1920 in the U.K.

Opium, much the same as the other two, not banned until the 1920s anywhere.

You are conflating a bunch of ideas without proof, drugs weren’t used to control colonial possessions, they were normal every day consumer items everywhere in the West too.

Furthermore, your ideas on the U.S. fighting to stop the drug trade and the U.K. stalling is also wrong, in most cases, the U.K. banned drugs before the U.S. did. An even worse comparison to suggest when you know more on the subject. The U.K. was a signatory to The Hague convention on opium of 1912 which restricted the sale and consumption of opium, including in their trade with other nations and in the colonies, the U.S. was not.

Your ideas on drugs in the golden triangle being because of the French is preposterous. The Golden Triangle appeared because the communist Chinese outlawed the domestic opium trade in southern China, the growers and dealers shifted south in the 1950s following action by the Chinese.

Your ideas on Japan are equally wrong. The Japanese didn’t “flood” colonial India with cocaine, that’s just plain preposterous. Nor did the Japanese play a major part in the Chinese opium trade, you are either reading the wrong material or you aren’t reading well. The Japanese made a fortune from the drug trade in Taiwan after they acquired it with Shimonoseki.

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WhittlingDan t1_izoxizg wrote

>drugs weren’t used to control colonial possessions, they were normal every day consumer items everywhere in the West too.

It was both and still is both, governments and wealthy "organizations" often connected to governments use drugs both for profit and control. Sonetimes control/benefit works both directions such as financing other "darker" expenses and operations while also destabilizing where they are sold. The CIA was behind the Cocaine/Crack epidemic in the US decades ago. It funded many different operations in the US and other countries, it destabilized and financed coups while also destroying black and other minority communities especially in the inner cities. It fed on the desperation and lack of opportunity.

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War_Hymn t1_izpm2p6 wrote

>heroin, cocaine and morphine were not “harder stuff”

You're really going to tell us a glass of whiskey isn't harder hitting than a glass of beer?

The term "harder" is sort of subjective, but I use it here on the basis that heroin/morphine/cocaine are all processed and concentrated products of the natural raw material that they are derived from. Raw opium doesn't contain 100% morphine - it's around 10% by mass.

Refining processes remove the non-psychoactive components and impurities from the base material, isolating /concentrating the components that do have a narcotic effect. For a given dose in mass or volume, heroin or cocaine is more potent than raw opium or coca leaves - cocaine production being the most dramatic change in concentration as the leaves typically contain less than 0.3% active cocaine chloride.

>and weren’t designed for export to China.

Never said they were, just pointing to their presence in the Chinese market. Old-fashion opium was still being imported (and produced domestically) by the ton into China at this time if I recall.

>Your ideas on heroin are wholesale wrong, it was first synthesized in 1874, it wasn’t commercialized until 1895. It was banned in 1924 in the U.S. but was available off the shelf until then. 1920 in the U.K.

I believe I did say "by the start of the 20th century" - if you're unfamiliar with this nomenclature, it means "early-1900s".

>Furthermore, your ideas on the U.S. fighting to stop the drug trade and the U.K. stalling is also wrong, in most cases, the U.K. banned drugs before the U.S.

Maybe, I'm a little vague on my dates and details in this regard. I'll have to reread my sources. Still, the Americans did indeed pushed for wider international collaboration in restricting narcotic trade and production, and they did faced resistance from other nations.

>Your ideas on drugs in the golden triangle being because of the French is preposterous. The Golden Triangle appeared because the communist Chinese outlawed the domestic opium trade in southern China, the growers and dealers shifted south in the 1950s following action by the Chinese.

I agree it's a subjective take open to bias and interpretations from both sides (colonial apologists vs. anti-colonial critics), but it doesn't change the fact that wartime French colonial officials were encouraging cultivation of poppies among local Miao/Hmong farmers for the purpose of producing opium. Whether that encouraged the wider intensive cultivation of opium in post-war Southeast Asia, I leave to more qualified scholars to argue over.

>Your ideas on Japan are equally wrong. The Japanese didn’t “flood” colonial India with cocaine

My sources tell me otherwise.

Excerpt from "Cocaine - An Unauthorized Biography" by Dominic Streatfeild:

->Such was the extent of the Japanese-Indian cocaine trade that in 1930 the Home Office despatched a Mr J Slattery, OBE, to the Far East to find what was going on. His secret report is in the Public Records Office at Kew. Slattery discovered that much of the cocaine being shifted bore the labels of Fujitsuru, Buddha, or Elephant brands, yet none of these were recognized manufacturers...Clearly of the impression that this cocaine all originated in Japan, Slattery could obtain no assistance from the Japanese authorities. Slattery had the wrappings of a Fujitsuru cocaine package analysed to see who made the paper. He was informed, and it was later corroborated, that it was made by the Fuji Company of Japan, and the string that held the package together was also Japanese.

>Nor did the Japanese play a major part in the Chinese opium trade

Please be aware I'm talking about Japan in the larger context of the 19th/20th century narcotic trade in China, so beyond the scope of the earlier Opium Wars period. As the original post hinted, the Japanese DID peddled opiates and other narcotics to the Chinese, something that the Japanese culprits faced charges for during the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal.

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Yugan-Dali t1_iznfi5h wrote

I had never heard of coca grown for cocaine in Taiwan. Do you have any sources (English or Chinese) where I could learn more? Thanks ~

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eranam t1_iznrcod wrote

Not original commenter (and long read in the source) but:

“In the 1920s, in order to save money on importing coca leaf from South America, Japan’s pharmaceutical companies determined to set up coca plantations in Taiwan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, and also purchased from Dutch growers in Java, who had been cultivating coca there since the 1850s (Karch 1999, 147, 156).

Company and Taiwan Shoyaku companies, on a combined 694 acres of land in the Taiwanese interior, produced a total of 700,814 kilograms of coca leaf between 1927 and 1931, about one- fifth of which was transferred to Japan for processing; the rest was processed into crude cocaine by those companies’ factories in Taiwan.18 Karch calculates the total production of coca leaf in Taiwan during these years at around 150,000 tons per year, which, once processed into cocaine, would have yielded around seven tons per year (1999, 155–156).”

Source

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Yugan-Dali t1_izo0kr6 wrote

Wow, that’s really interesting, thank you!

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War_Hymn t1_izpajoq wrote

My information comes from "Cocaine - An Unauthorized Biography" by Dominic Streatfield - basically covers the entire history of coca and cocaine from the time of the Incas to the coke epidemic of the 1980s. A great read.

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Law_Equivalent t1_iznqzgz wrote

Morphine was never developed, and it's impossible morphine is "harder" than opium, the reason opium gets you high is because of the morphine naturally in it mainly.

Heroin also has an extremely short half life and turns into morphine in the body extremely fast, so I wouldn't characterize it as harder than morphine either.

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War_Hymn t1_izp9zyi wrote

>it's impossible morphine is "harder" than opium, the reason opium gets you high is because of the morphine naturally in it mainly.

So you're going to tell me a glass of whiskey (40% ABV) isn't harder hitting than the same size glass of beer (5% ABV)?

Refining opium into morphine or heroin removes the non-narcotic components and impurities in the natural product. The resulting product is much more concentrated in psychoactive agents, hence has a stronger effect for a given dose.

>Morphine was never developed

Morphine was first isolated in 1804/1805 by German chemist Friedrich Serturner - by 1817 he had started a pharmaceutical company to produce and market the new drug as an analgesic. Heavy use of morphine in medical treatment during the American Civil War (and the mass opiate epidemic it spawned in its aftermath) is so well documented that I'm surprise anyone would even try to refute it.

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Law_Equivalent t1_izv08ha wrote

"The resulting product is much more concentrated in psychoactive agents, hence has a stronger effect for a given dose. "

If stronger effect for a given dose determines how "hard" a drug is than LSD would be a harder drug than meth or heroin...

Do you think LSD or Meth is a harder drug?

Meth?

Ok than why do you keep repeating this nonsense about potency determining how "hard" a drug is?

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War_Hymn t1_izw3v1m wrote

>Do you think LSD or Meth is a harder drug?

Which ever has the stronger psychoactive effect. If you say LSD, than I guess it's LSD.

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Law_Equivalent t1_izv24ws wrote

From this peer reviewed article it says

"The effects of opium are essentially those of morphine but unexpected toxicities, suck as oesophageal cancer associated with “dross opium” and polyneuropathy due to deliberate addition of arsenic, are problems in some specific regions"

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1360-0443.1997.tb03197.x

If the effects are the same between two different substances but one has more risks than the other the one with more risks is the harder substance, Therefore opium is harder than "morphine ".

Both dextroamphetamine(an ingredient in Adderall) and meth have the same exact effects but meth is known as a harder drug because of the risks of using it.

Don't believe me?

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3475187/ Concordant with the literature obtained with laboratory animals, direct comparisons of the effects of oral methamphetamine and d-amphetamine in HUMANS indicate the drugs produce overlapping effects on measures of cardiovascular activity, mood, and drug discrimination 14,1516 Finally, data from studies comparing the two amphetamines on measures believed to be predictive of abuse potential (i.e., drug discrimination and self-administration) indicate that equivalent doses of the drugs produced similar responses, further indicating that the drugs are equipotent 11,12,13 Recreational methamphetamine use is purportedly used in larger doses via routes of administration that produce a more rapid onset of effects (e.g., intranasal, intravenous, and smoked: [17]). The onset speed of drug-related effects is a critical determinant of the intensity of mood and behavioral effects of a drug 18,19. Thus, it is possible that potential differences between methamphetamine and d-amphetamine may only be detected following a route of administration associated with a faster onset of effects

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War_Hymn t1_izw3nsj wrote

>If the effects are the same between two different substances but one has more risks than the other the one with more risks is the harder substance, Therefore opium is harder than "morphine ".

I'm sorry friend, but I assumed it was obvious that I was pointing to the narcotic effects when I suggested morphine/heroine to be "harder" substances. I didn't think most people would think I was talking mainly or solely about chronic health effects of said drugs when I use the adjective term.

On a side note, if you're some sort of avid heroin/morphine/drug enthusiast or proponent that I somehow offended with my academic take on the historic opiate trade, then you should know that I don't have any personal "experience" with the narcotic substances that we are discussing here. I don't smoke tobacco, used marijuana maybe a few times in college, and barely drink as it is. My interests in the discussed drugs are purely academic, and I didn't post my comment with the intention of pushing any sort anti-drug "heroin or morphine is evil" agenda. All I know is refined morphine has more morphine than raw opium / cocaine has way more cocaine chloride than coca leaves. How they affect people when partake, I have to take such info from others.

PS: Now that I think about it, I did get some IV morphine during a surgery and recovery in my young teens. It was pretty good stuff, and helped take the pain off my collapsed lung and broken ribs.

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Minuted t1_izmhoms wrote

Is this where they got the name/idea for the superhero? Kenny Lauderdale has a good video about him on Youtube, though the cigarette brand wasn't mentioned if I remember (which I probably don't).

edit: looks like wiki doesn't even have an article on the superhero, only the cigarette brand.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Theatre/GoldenBat

edit: The wiki page is under the japanese name of "Ogon bat".

Apparently he was named after the cigarette band, according to this one archived article.

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lordyeti t1_izmp2q9 wrote

Gotta love Kenny's videos! I too immediately had the same thought, good to know it's kinda confirmed

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voluotuousaardvark t1_izn71ne wrote

I genuinely enjoyed following you down that rabbit hole.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that has to gather their thoughts like this to confirm a cloudy memory.

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boinksession t1_izoesqs wrote

I think people are missing the point here. This was constructed by a special division of the Japanese military. It has more to do with getting the people and more so Chinese soldiers addicted and reliant during WARTIME! Possibly hindered their decision making during war and slowed down their physical movement.

THIS IS MORE THAN JUST CIGARETTE BRANDING OF A CIGARETTE COMPANY AND FOR COMMERCIAL SALE.

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ashoka_akira t1_izory0u wrote

Its low key chemical warfare, but more insidious.

Funny how the Fet imports that are the cause of our current opioid issues which are gnawing away at the foundations of our social structure all comes from there..

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WhittlingDan t1_izowd7g wrote

Fentanyl is a problem because Purdue Pharmaceutical got a ton of people addicted to Oxycontin and then the government suddenly shut the faucet off making the problem almost instantly worse. There was not enough heroin to supply the US addiction needs So it was "fortified" with fentanyl. It soon became clear how much cheaper it was and the profit and ease of transportation. China may use it as a 'weapon' but they don't have to. Mexico, the middle east, criminals and psychopaths the world over just for greed of money and power would do it. Our own CIA directly sold cocaine and started the crack epidemic in this country. China became a problem because businesses were more than happy to exploit workers and slaves all over for greater profit at the cost of their own countries and people. Fentanyl is here and not going anywhere anytime soon, even if China made none of it. We have a huge market for drugs here and it will always be filled by greedy people.

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Accelerator231 t1_izq13vj wrote

Yeah. But the entire opioid issue is done by American pharmaceuticals to begin with. So that's less Chinese intelligence and more American stupidity

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BoredCop t1_iznfchn wrote

Slightly related, Headstamp Publishing (run by Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons fame) is coming out with a book specifically on Japanese smoking products of the WWII era. Kind of a niche book, but might be interesting for some? Tobacco of the Emperor

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Yugan-Dali t1_iznfff2 wrote

摩登 Modeng is simply a transliteration of “modern.”

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tafinucane t1_izokgu5 wrote

In this discussion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVRhAVBvfUs&t=482s

The writer claims US Army intelligence responded to rumors Japanese soldiers were issued opium-laced cigarettes. The video shows examples of packs of cigarettes stamped with markers showing they'd been investigated.

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WhittlingDan t1_izp1ife wrote

My dad told me that when he was in Vietnam you could buy a metal tin or cloth wrapped package of 50 or 100 joints for $1 American money. They were sold predominantly as just "marijuana" but most of the time were also dipped in opium. Supposedly it was meant to addict the soldiers but the vast majority of the soldiers already new they had opium in them and were more than happy to use those instead. The war was brutal and many of the soldiers on the front were forced to go and taken from the poorest and most disadvantaged in society. If politicians want to send us to war then their children or at least one of their children and at least one child (blood for both to avoid adoption schemes) from every rich family should be sent to the front lines (enlisted combat roles, no officer positions) before there is ever a draft. Even without a draft I feel that politicians who vote for war need more skin in the game, something personal.

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dilsiam t1_iznluol wrote

Cannabis was sold in potato like sacks at the convenience store, along with the vegetables and other merchandise.

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ThatGIRLkimT t1_izwdz9o wrote

People are smart. They invented it for their enemies.

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the-other-car t1_j01hlix wrote

Japan has had a long list of atrocities in such short amount of time lol

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iamkike t1_izomife wrote

Same trick but the poison is Tiktok now days

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bubbybyrd t1_izptn8h wrote

>SMCP

Too bias, No thanks.

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Esotewi t1_izpx9o5 wrote

Could you elaborate on what is wrong with the content?

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War_Hymn t1_izw5we4 wrote

It's a Chinese newspaper, therefore must be biased about news regarding Chinese history. Same reason why you don't pay mind to anything said about American history if it was written by an American journalist. /s

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