Opium Distribution in Amsterdam from Legal to Illegal: The Spatial Effects on Port and City

Abstract

In the Netherlands, opium changed from a legal medicinal drug widely used in Amsterdam up until the twentieth century in an illegal drug primarily consumed by Chinese immigrants after 1920, the year in which its production and sale became illegal. This paper analyses the spatial effects of this change. It does so by mapping the locations of the opium distribution chain in Amsterdam at two moments in time and by comparing the resulting patterns. The first map depicting the situation in 1742 makes clear that the pharmacies where opium could be bought were almost equally distributed across the city. The second map from the interwar period, shows a large concentration of opium use in the Chinese district and also shows locations where the police enforced the law or where gang related assassination (attempts) occurred. We conclude that the change in the legal status of opium resulted in its distribution network changing from a public endeavour to underground smuggling dominated by Chinese gangs. We see this organizational change clearly reflected in the different parts of the city were these activates took place.