Opium is the latex or gum obtained from the opium poppy. Humans have been using the gum as a medicine, an anaesthetic and a recreational drug for thousands of years. It is the source of important medicines like morphine and codeine, and also of heroin, which has become the most popular form for ingesting opium.
Opium and its derivatives generate what economists call ‘inelastic’ demand. In most markets, consumers can either abstain or turn to alternatives to satisfy their needs. Prices then fluctuate according to what customers are willing to pay. But in the drug market the consumers are addicted (so abstaining is incredibly difficult), and historically there has been no real alternative to the physiological effects — the ‘high’. As a result, drug producers can increase production, their customer base and their profits without worrying that high prices will drive off existing addicts.
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