“By 1906, China had 13.5 million opioid addicts, who accounted for 27% of the adult male population, and had consumed some 39,000 tons of opium.” - Fang et al
I would say in certain times/places of history opium has definitely been used often. I also wasn't only talking about opium, but opioids in general and I simply would not agree they are not something people use often, nor would I agree they are less physically addictive than alcohol. They are much easier to develop a physical dependence on.
Actually, I would agree with you here. Opium generally, being less toxic to the body than alcohol, is easier to slip into a physical dependency.
However, it's nothing like morphine and heroin.
Even morphine is difficult in my opinion. There are significant physical side effects which are unpleasant, just like with opium. These include :
1. Itchiness reaction
2. Constipation
3. Lethargy
4. Nausea
With opium, you can take one or two puffs, that's it, three and you're sick for days...
Less so with morphine, the lower end doses can actually be sociable, but take it up just a bit, and you're in the dreamy isolated space. It takes a bit to get very sick with mophine.
With alcohol however, it's a completely different story, for me, even after a couple of glasses of wine I feel like my body has taken a hit, the next day generally is low on energy and somewhat unpleasant. I don't really drink anymore because it messes with my fitness routine. Maybe once in a while with food on a Saturday.
My only experience with Morphine was ingesting 50mg with no tolerance and being incredibly sick the next few days. I had no idea at the time what a proper dose was with morphine. In a way I am very lucky I didn't take the whole thing, I could have died. (I had broken up with a girl friend a few weeks ago and had a few drinks). Very stupid, and I wish I had been educated on the idea of proper dosing. I think I may even have done so. This was before the internet.
Since then, I did try Oxycodone once when I was feeling extremely anxious from Coca Tea use. And I could see the seductiveness of the combination of Cocaine and Opiates. Very nice feeling. Not much you can really do there however but feel "nice". Never felt it was that useful. But you can see that if someone is poor or destitute, or very stressed, they could use this often as a crutch to keep themselves calm. Problem is, if you are poor, you can only find pretty poor quality goods, but if you are rich, well, you can afford rehab and all the prescription drugs your doctor will give you. ie, Michael Jackson and the like.
