Recently I read that at the turn from the nineteenth to the twentieth
century China, with perhaps a quarter of the world's population, consumed
about 95% of the world's opium production.  I am familiar with the Opium
Wars between Britain and China.  British imperialism explains supply.  What
puzzles me is the disproprrtionate demand in China.  My questions to drugs
historians: is the statistic credible?  why did the Chinese develop opium
habits more than other people?  was it a question of opium consumption
being illegal elsewhere, alcohol being preferred elsewhere, or what?