Numerous archeological finds point to the fact that opium has been the drug of choice for many civilizations, beginning with some of the oldest ones we are familiar with. The Sumerians, who referred to the plant as "Hul Gil," the "joy plant," apparently recognized its euphoric effects and passed it onto Assyrians. From them, it went on to Babylonians, who further passed their knowledge to Egyptians. The Egyptians spread the word and the plant across their merchant routes, which included the Phoenicians and Minoans, who inadvertently exposed Carthage, Greece, and the rest of Europe to the drug. The Greeks proceeded not only to cultivate, but also to trade the drug. An additional Greek contribution was to the development of technology that would assure required precision, and therefore highest quality of product, in the critical part of opium production — the first surgically sharp knives for opium culling. Hypocrates, "the father of medicine," acknowledged the sedative, but dismissed the curative effects of opium.

    With the Greeks of Alexander the Great, opium travelled to Asia and north Africa. From there, the Arab merchants took it to China, where it found a fertile growing ground. During the period of strong influence of the Catholic church in the Middle Ages, and denouncement of everything and anything "eastern" as "devil's work" opium's destiny is rarely mentioned in writing. However, as soon as the Portuguese mercantile maritime quests start frequenting China's east coast, opium smoking is taken up again. While opium smoking in China never spread beyond the lowest classes at that point, being a "barbaric habit," Europeans gladly re-adopted the effects that it brings, introducing opium into medical practice in the form of laudanum, first concocted by the Swiss alchemist-physician Paracelsus. The "stones of immortality" in the shape of little black pills contained opium, citrus juice, and gold, and were prescribed as painkillers. Portuguese merchants reminded all places they proceeded to visit, like Persia and India, of opium, introducing these nations to its recreational uses. While carrying their cargoes of Indian opium through the Portuguese colony of Macao, it was physically easy to redirect the trade flow into China as well.