Opium den in Paris in the 19th century
The term “opium ”Has very ancient origins.
In the Greek language the word òpion it meant “juice” , since it indicated the latex naturally secreted by the capsules of the poppy flowers ( papaver somniferum ).
This white liquid congeals in contact with the air and takes on a decidedly darker color; the resin obtained from this very simple procedure is then mixed to form "opium loaves “.
It is basically a type of drug which was widely used in the past, both for its pain-relieving effects (if taken in small doses), both for those hallucinatory and delirious it is true that they were obtained by taking a higher quantity which, however, not infrequently led to death.