Drugs in China vs. Drugs in Cambodia

In 19th century China, much of the population was addicted to opium. The British made huge profits selling opium to the Chinese. Over 50% of the value of British exports into China was Opium. The people were addicted, and it was a cruel money making strategy on the Brits part. Cambodia today is in a similar situation. Over 50% of the population under 25 years of age is addicted to meth. In 19th century China, the main people addicted to opium were the working class, the majority of opium addicts were not street youths. Instead, they were workers, students, court officials, soldiers, etc. The Chinese government cracked down on the use of opium, and got them into the Opium Wars with the British. There are not many effective programs provided by the government to help drug addicts in Cambodia today. Hopefully, organizations will continue to develop rehabilitation centers for Cambodian drug addicts.

Cambodia's forests are being destroyed to find sassafras trees that contain safrole, a necessary ingredient to make ecstasy. Although it's illegal to destroy these trees and parts of the forests, many criminals take the risk to get their filthy hands on the safrole because they can make huge profits by selling it. They pay workers less than three dollars a day to lug heavy machinery through the forest to camps to burn the trees, making safrole. They then sell the safrole illegally for large sums of money to make huge profits. They are willing to take the risk of getting caught to make a profit. This is similar to the British selling Opium to the 19th century Chinese. Although it was made illegal by the Chinese officials, the British continued smuggling Opium into China and selling it, making huge profits. They too took the risk to make money. If the British did not sell opium, they would be exporting more value than they would be importing. They sold opium so they would not fall into debt to China. Unlike the British selling of opium, ecstasy is used recreationally, and sold purely for profit. It is not necessary for the forest to be destroyed. Hopefully the authorities will continue to crack down on illegal safrole procedures, and save the rare flora and fauna that inhabit this section of Cambodia, (and also save people from using ecstasy in the long run.)