Did the british really force the chinese to consume opium.... in the opium wars?

Question: Did the british really force the chinese to consume opium!.!.!.!. in the opium wars!?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Yes!.

The Opium Wars
http://www!.victorianweb!.org/history/empi!.!.!.

Don't want to scare you, but as recently as the 1930s it was still possible to send a footman to Harrods to collect a hamper which would have had opium and other drugs in it!.

Sherlock Holmes was hooked on opium!. Okay so he was a fictional character, however, the auther, Conan Doyle was making a point!. Smoking opium here in England back then was quite common!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

During the 19th century, trading in goods from China was extremely lucrative for Europeans and Chinese merchants alike!. Due to the Qing Dynasty's trade restrictions, whereby international trade was only allowed to take place in Canton (Guangzhou) conducted by imperially sanctioned monopolies, it became uneconomic to trade in low-value manufactured consumer products that the average Chinese could buy from the British like the Indians did!.
Instead, the Sino-British trade became dominated by high-value luxury items such as tea (from China to Britain) and silver (from Britain to China), to the extent that European specie metals became widely used in China!. Britain had been on the gold standard since the 18th century, so it had to purchase silver from continental Europe to supply the Chinese appetite for silver, which was a costly process at a time before demonetization of silver by Germany in the 1870s!. In casting about for other possible commodities to reverse the flow of silver out of the country and into China, the British discovered opium!. Opium as a medicinal ingredient was documented in texts as early as the Ming dynasty but its recreational use was limited and there were laws in place against its abuse!. It was with the mass quantities introduced by the British motivated by the equalization of trade that the drug became prevalent!. British importation of opium in large amounts began in 1781 and between 1821 and 1837 import increased fivefold!. The drug was produced in the traditionally cotton growing regions of India (under British government monopoly (Bengal) and in the Princely states (Malwa) and was sold on the condition that it be shipped by British traders to China!. The Qing government had largely ignored the problem until the drug had spread widely in Chinese society!.
Technically they didn't 'force' them to consume it!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

No Chinaman was tied down and with a pipe jabbed in his teeth!.!.!.

The Wars were over the British right to continue trading Opium in China without interference from the Imperial government!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

They did'nt force them but silently started giving in china which aftected the chinese populationWww@QuestionHome@Com

wouldnt surprise me!.!.!. get em hooked and jack the price, or use the addiction as a method of control!.!.!. Www@QuestionHome@Com