A comprehensive overview of opioid use throughout human history, current problems surrounding opioid abuse, and suggested approaches to solving these problems.

• Provides a complete historical overview of opioid use in human societies

• Contextualizes the crisis with a chronology of important events in the history of opioid use

• Offers a strong collection of reference materials for use in further research on the topic

• Discusses the synthetic and neurological chemistry of opioids and how different types have been used throughout history