Opium detoxification places in Guangzhou (1839-1952)
Résumé
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 antiopium
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).
Domaines
Histoire
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