Introduction
Before the notion of drugs has become into what it is nowadays, the purpose of drug trade was entirely for medical purposes. At that time, the trade is proven to be prosperous and has a high potential to increase the economy of a country. Because of this, many companies had set up monopoly of the drugs. However, the dealers are being hindered to gain huge amount of profit by the limitations imposed on drug trade. This is to retain the real purpose of the trade, and that is to use the drugs to treat the people’s illnesses. Unfortunately, greedy companies had initiated drug trade in secret with drug dependent people in order to gain more money. What is worse is that there is some point in history which can be prevented if people only followed the rules of authority. Several wars started and many people, both involved and innocent were affected by the aftermath. The good news is that people began to realize the risks of the said drugs in terms of health, security and economy. As response to the conflicts, social and health problems brought about by drug trade, laws and regulations had been made to prevent or minimize the use of such drugs.
Importance of the History
Knowing the history of global drug movements has positive implications upon changing the notion of people about the nature of drugs. The people will be free from the ignorance about the drugs and this will prevent them from making false assumptions that the addictive drugs were made for the same purpose ever since they have been discovered and modified into drugs. By knowing the history, people will be able to determine that it is not the drugs which brought forth the problem of addiction and dependence which is still experienced by humanity even in these days. This is because the drugs were made for treatment and therapeutic purposes and it is the people who introduced and discovered the other use of drugs. With this knowledge, the people will be guided and will be able to determine the real source of the problem. Consequently, the solution will not be directed towards the total ban of the drugs, but it is the legalization of their use instead. This must be pursued because the drugs are highly effective in the treatment of diseases when consumed in the amount prescribed by legitimate physicians. In addition to this, the government must be highly strict in implementing the anti-drug abuse campaign. The perpetrators must be caught, and be punished accordingly.
Another advantage of knowing the history is that the people will be able to prevent the worst events that occurred in the past. In other words, people will not repeat the history and will make ways to create a better future for the next generation. This is how laws are created; they are created because the lawmakers have seen or experienced personally the terrors of the mistakes that occurred. In the case of drug trade, the lawmakers had probably experienced the deadly conflicts which are caused primarily by drug trade. To prevent a new Opium War to happen in this time and in the future, these lawmakers might have think of regulating drug trade and drug use completely, and this is how laws concerning drug use are created.
Conclusion: Impacts of Drug Trade in Human History
Drug trade has provided both positive and negative impacts upon human history. Fortunately, those negative impacts have helped humanity shape their views and outlooks towards proper drug usage and drug abuse. Drug trade has been able to reach the other parts of the world and this helped in dispensing the cure in the global scale. Legal drug trades have also helped economic growth especially in countries whose drug industry is government owned. On the other hand, drug trades also revealed the nature of other people who are consumed by greed and self-interest. Furthermore, drug trade caused miseries in the lives of people especially to those who are not even involved in the conflict. Wars happened between countries in order to seize control of the influential drug trade because of its several benefits especially in money making. The better side of these miserable events is that people began to realize the importance of regulating the entry and exit of drugs, and the current society now balances the possible advantages and disadvantages of drug trade.
Bibliography
Crocq, Marc-Antoine. "Historical and Cultural Aspects of Man's Relationship with Addictive Drugs." Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience 9, no. 4 (2007): 355-61.
Faunce, Kenneth. "History of Drug Trade." Lecture, February 20, 2016.
