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 - jones8js@jmu.edu 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
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