Heroin is made from opium, which was derived from the heavily farmed Red Poppy plant in China during the 18th century. Originally formed for medical purposes since it was natural pain killer, but it has one nasty side effect - it is highly addictive. By the mid 1800’s it becomes extremely popular with the Chinese population, so much so that the British took interest in the drug and how it was made (LEVINTHAL 97). This later sparked the Opium wars that devastated the Chinese economy and with the California Gold Rush, they began to come to America. It was mostly young males and small families that moved and founded work in dangerous jobs like setting explosives for the building of railroads and mines. Among many things they brought from home
