Dr. Lynn Price Robbins and Isaac S. Loftus sit down with historian Dr. Jonathan S. Jones to uncover the hidden history of opium use during the American Civil War. Hailed as a miracle cure for battlefield pain, opium left countless veterans battling lifelong addiction—an often-overlooked consequence of war that shaped lives long after the fighting ended.
Please support this podcast by checking out our patreon:
www.patreon.com/primarysourcemedia
CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Introductions
1:12 - How did you choose your topic?
3:25 - The journey to discovering opium’s role
4:39 - The difference between opium and morphine
6:40 - Pre-modern medicine ear
8:25 - Opium's prevalence in the U.S. civil war medicine
10:47 - Addiction awareness in the 19th century
13:52 - Changing the perception of addiction
17:55 - Civil War Veterans and opium use
21:02 - Access to opium: The unregulated market
22:46 - Supply and Demand: Opium During the Civil War
27:00 - Medical Advancements and the Hypodermic Syringe
32:44 - International Influence on Civil War Medicine
34:19 - The Emergence of Addiction Post-Civil War
37:57 - How was Morphine Prescribed
39:54 - Responses to Addiction: A Historical Perspective
47:07 - Shifts in Perception and Treatment of Addiction
54:43 - Racial and Gender Disparities in Addiction Treatment
58:18 - The Legacy of Addiction: Lessons from History and Where to Visit
1:00:57 - Where to find Jonathon and his book
EPISODE LINKS:
Dr. Jonathan S. Jones - https://jonathansjones.net
James Madison University - https://www.jmu.edu/history/people/all-people/jones-jonathan.shtml
Opium Slavery: The Civil War, Veterans, and America’s First Opioid Crisis - https://uncpress.org/9781469689531/opium-slavery/
Opium – https://museum.dea.gov/exhibits/online-exhibits/cannabis-coca-and-poppy-natures-addictive-plants/opium-poppy
Opiate v. Opioid - https://www.oregon.gov/adpc/pages/opiate-opioid.aspx
Germ Theory - https://www.civilwarmed.org/germ-theory-antebellum/
Civil War Field Hospitals - https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/everyday-life-civil-war-hospital
Crimean War - https://www.britannica.com/event/Crimean-War
Ambrose Bierce - https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ambrose-Bierce
Harrison Narcotics Tax Act - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK234755/#:~:text=The%20measure%20that%20finally%20passed,to%20pay%20a%20small%20tax.
National Museum of Civil War Medicine – https://www.civilwarmed.org
American Civil War Museum - https://acwm.org
BlueSky – https://bsky.app/profile/jonathansjones.bsky.social
Email -
[email protected]
PODCAST INFO:
Podcast website: 2c4hpod.com
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/2-complicated-4-history/id1664183536
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/3svQpZfxhVQnYJMESpp842?si=514780ada34d4aab
Full episodes playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX2x56DEw1y7EYWxfufgfSR951RrdsXet&si=TuDcpAjaeQx-vjkH
SOCIAL:
- Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/2c4hPodcast
- Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/2c4h_podcast
To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Brasil