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Industrial Power

Opium became the main source of revenue of the British Empire

Opium, once sacred to the ancient Greeks, became the main source of revenue of the British Empire. Tobacco, when smoked by 'the white man', became an addiction that led to one of the world's biggest industries. The coca leaf, used for thousands of years in South America without toxic addiction, became the scourge of the western world. Nick Rankin investigates.

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28 minutes

大象传媒 World Service Archive

This programme was restored as part of the World Service archive project