Historically about OPIUM

Theriaca jar

Peasant preparing an ointment to protect against snakes from the theriaca of Nicander of Colophon (tenth century A.D.)

 Opium is the dry latex obtained through cutting the poppy seed pod (Papaver somniferum) and thus it was also known as the milk or the tears of the poppy (lachryma papaveris). The substance contains morphine and codeine and has been used since the earliest times as analgesic, anesthetic, and sedative, either to medical ends or during rituals.

Since Antiquity opium has been a traditional ingredient in theriaca-type remedies – a famous concoction used as panaceum and antidote against animal bites and poison. Theriaca contained around 40 ingredients, its preparation could last several years, and was extremely expensive.

Laudanum is the term consecrated since the sixteenth century for opium tincture, discovered by the famous German alchemist Paracelsus. It was used for centuries as it was a very popular, even if temporary remedy for coughing, diarrhea, and pain in general. At the same time, laudanum was cheaper than alcoholic drinks, taxed extra, and was available without prescription – in fact a widely accessible narcotic.

Opium and Theriaca apothecary jars from the History of Pharmacy Collection in Cluj-Napoca

The recreational use of opium, as a drug, started in China in the fifteenth century, flourished during the seventeenth, and triggered severe bans, commercial controls, and even wars.

The History of Pharmacy Collection in Cluj-Napoca includes a number of pharmaceutical jars from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for the storage of opium powder, extract, and tincture, but also for the expensive theriaca, that also included opium among its ingredients.