Opium Detoxification Places in Guangzhou (1839–1952)

Abstract

Abstract This article deals with the various kinds of official agencies devoted to the treatment of opium smokers in Guangzhou between 1839 and 1952. Their role in the anti-opium campaigns varied greatly, the general trend being: when the local authorities committed themselves to the immediate or rapid suppression of opium, detoxification places were either of secondary importance (1839–1840, 1950–1952) or even absent (1912–1913). On the other hand, when the authorities decided to use gradual methods to combat drug addiction (1906–1911, 1936–1937), they played a much greater role. As to their internal organization, a process of medicalization was clearly underway, and they became genuine “clinics” from the early twentieth century on. Therapies inspired by Western medicine rapidly replaced traditional Chinese remedies. The opium clinics of the 1930s testify to the affirmation of a new political ideology targeting the mobilization of the population and the enhancement of its physical and moral standards (in the same line as the New Life movement).