Editing Opium (section)

=== Regulation in Britain and the United States ===
Before the 1920s, regulation in Britain was controlled by pharmacists. Pharmacists who were found to have prescribed opium for illegitimate uses and anyone found to have sold opium without proper qualifications would be prosecuted.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Anderson |first1=Stuart |last2=Berridge |first2=Virginia |year=2000 |title=Opium In 20th-Century Britain: Pharmacists, Regulation And The People |doi=10.1046/j.1360-0443.2000.951234.x |journal=Addiction |volume=95 |issue=1 |pages=23–36|pmid=10723823 }}</ref> With the passing of the Rolleston Act in Britain in 1926, doctors were allowed to prescribe opiates such as morphine and heroin if they believed their patients demonstrated a medical need. Because addiction was viewed as a medical problem rather than an indulgence, doctors were permitted to allow patients to wean themselves off opiates rather than cutting off any opiate use altogether.<ref name="BrownRichard">{{cite journal|author = Brown Richard Harvey |year=2002 |title=The Opium Trade And Opium Policies In India, China, Britain, And The United States: Historical Comparisons And Theoretical Interpretations |journal=Asian Journal of Social Science |volume=30 |issue=3 |page=623 | doi=10.1163/156853102320945420}}</ref> The passing of the Rolleston Act put the control of opium use in the hands of medical doctors instead of pharmacists. Later in the 20th century, addiction to opiates, especially heroin in young people, continued to rise and so the sale and prescription of opiates was limited to doctors in treatment centres. If these doctors were found to be prescribing opiates without just cause, then they could lose their licence to practice or prescribe drugs.<ref name="BrownRichard" />

Abuse of opium in the United States began in the late 19th century and was largely associated with Chinese immigrants. During this time the use of opium had little stigma; the drug was used freely until 1882 when a law was passed to confine opium smoking to specific dens.<ref name="BrownRichard" /> Until the full ban on opium-based products came into effect just after the beginning of the twentieth century, physicians in the US considered opium a miracle drug that could help with many ailments. Therefore, the ban on said products was more a result of negative connotations towards its use and distribution by Chinese immigrants who were heavily persecuted during this particular period in history.<ref name="BrownRichard" /> As the 19th century progressed however, doctor [[Hamilton Wright]] worked to decrease the use of opium in the US by submitting the Harrison Act to congress. This act put taxes and restrictions on the sale and prescription of opium, as well as trying to stigmatize the opium poppy and its derivatives as "demon drugs", to try to scare people away from them.<ref name="BrownRichard" /> This act and the stigma of a demon drug on opium, led to the criminalization of people that used opium-based products. It made the use and possession of opium and any of its derivatives illegal. The restrictions were recently redefined by the Federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fda.gov/regulatoryinformation/legislation/ucm148726.htm|title=Legislation – Controlled Substances Act|author=Office of the Commissioner |website=Fda.gov|access-date=2017-01-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://erowid.org/archive/rhodium/chemistry/opium.html|title=Opium – Poppy Cultivation, Morphine and Heroin Manufacture|website=Erowid.org|access-date=2017-01-25}}</ref>