Opium originated around 6,000 years ago in the Middle East when it was first used by the Greeks and Romans as a form of medicine. Physicians used it as a drug before the time of Christ. Around 600 A.D., Arabian traders brought opium to China and India. Around the 1600's, European traders introduced opium smoking to China. Opium smoking did not begin until after the discovery of America, where the practice of pipe smoking originated. It was first outlawed in 1729, but traders continue to exchange it for silk, porcelain, and other Chinese products. The opium trade caused the infamous Opium Wars of 1839 to 1842, in which England defeated China.

By the end of the nineteenth century, opium had become widely available to Europe and North America. By this time opium addiction became an epidemic throughout the world. Around early 1900, there were at least 200,000 Americans addicted to opiates (opium in different forms such as; powder, heroin, tea, tar). In 1914, the Harrison Narcotics Act, outlawed opiates in the United States, although at the time opium demand was at its peak. As a result, illegal smuggling of opiates became a huge problem. After World War II, heroin became the most addicted drug. By 1970, the United States had an estimated half a million heroin addicts.