Journal of Ottoman Legacy Studies (Nov 2020)
OSMANLI TOPLUMUNDA UYUŞTURUCU MADDE KULLANIMI VE DEVLETİN BUNA KARŞI BAZI MÜCADELE ÇALIŞMALARI
Abstract
Drugs attract attention as a multidimensional concept that closely affects people and societies. The multidimensional nature of narcotic drugs naturally causes this concept to be of interest to many branches of science. However, although drugs have entered the field of interest of many disciplines, the medical perspective has been important in the evaluation process of the concept as it primarily concerns human health. At this point, although it causes addiction when used for pleasure and negatively affects the mental and physical structure of the person, the role of drugs in the treatment has prevented the banning of drugs completely since ancient times. In the Turkish-Islamic civilizations as in ancient civilizations, the sources of drugs were poppy and hemp plants and this situation continued with the Ottoman society. Among the plants that constitute the source of drugs in the Ottoman society, especially the poppy and hemp plants were applied primarily in the field of medicine. Among these, marijuana and marijuana mixtures obtained from cannabis, as well as opium and opium mixtures obtained from poppy, were widely used in treatment because they act as a softener for various pain relief and ailments such as cough. In the Ottoman society, substances with narcotic properties were tried to be supplied in the market by the tradesmen group, which operated under the herbalists group according to the tradesmen’s order. The public’s need for health and healing products played a determining role in granting the right to sell to the relevant tradesmen. For this reason, the relevant tradesmen were allowed to sell substances with narcotic properties in the market only as health products. However, despite the regulations, it has been observed that some tradesmen sell goods to people who use drugs for pleasure. Upon understanding this situation, it was determined from various archive documents that the state was involved in the problem and inspected the market through tradesmen known as supply centers. In the Ottoman Period, opium and cannabis were among the main items used for pleasure other than tobacco, and the addicted to these substances was called “tiryaki (addicts)”. In the Ottoman Classical Period, tiryakiler (addicts) tried to buy drugs in certain places and the "Tiryakiler Bazaar" in Süleymaniye in Istanbul attracted attention. The tradesmen here were listed separately as "seller of opium" and "seller of cannabis" in accordance with the Ottoman tradesmen system. These shops located in the Tiryakiler Bazaar (Smokers Bazaar) were selling opium and cannabis as health products, since they were affiliated with the herbalist tradesmen. However, it was seen that they did not comply with this rule from time to time, that is, they sold goods without permission, apart from their real purpose. Opium and cannabis, which are the sources of drugs used for pleasure other than medical reasons in the Ottoman society, could be obtained easily with the effect of the convenience of supply, although they were not reflected in the general public. Therefore, starting from the Ottoman Classical Period until the last moments of the Ottoman Empire, opium, opium pastes and syrups and cannabis derivatives had a use in order to cheer up and get away from some problems. One of the striking points in the use of drugs for pleasure in the Ottomans is that addicts did not use drugs in public areas. It was understood that especially addicts used drugs in secret, mostly in coffee houses, and when it was realized that they were users, they lost their social and economic prestige significantly. Therefore, it is observed that drug addicts in Ottoman society were excluded in social and economic life. As a matter of fact, poets, thinkers, and clergy who had an impact on the Ottoman state and social life gave advice to the society by describing the exemplary situations that those who used opium and marijuana for pleasure. Accordingly, it was emphasized by poets, thinkers and clergy that substance use would cause religious, moral, physical and spiritual problems, and it was recommended that the state and society should struggle with substance use together. Drug use in the Ottomans was an inconvenient situation from the point of view of the state as well as the society. Because, according to Ottoman law, which derives its source from Islamic law, the use of substances was accepted as haram and this enabled the state to be involved in the event from a legal and administrative perspective. At this point, accepting the problem as a legal issue enabled the judicial and administrative units to take an active part in the process. In addition, the social and economic dimensions of drug use made it necessary for the relevant units of the state to deal with the issue from a broad perspective. Therefore, the problem of drug use in the Ottoman Empire has been evaluated as a multi-dimensional area that must be tackled by the state. Another important issue regarding drugs is the developments in the world in the 19th century. Especially in the West towards the end of the 19th century, the realization of the addictive feature of new synthetic drugs has made substance addiction a subject of modern medicine. As a result, drug addiction has started to be considered as a disease that needs to be treated. This situation remained valid for the Ottoman society as well. As a matter of fact, it has started to be emphasized more in the last period of the 19th century that various cognitive and physiological problems such as perception problems, memory disorders, dizziness and weakness are caused by the use of opium and cannabis (marijuana) and synthetics derived from them. As a matter of fact, according to the information obtained from Ottoman archive sources, it was stated that many people who were thought to have mental problems actually suffered from using other drugs such as heroin, cocaine and morphine, especially marijuana. In order to prevent this, the supervisory role of the state was emphasized. As can be seen in this study, it was noteworthy that during both the Ottoman Classical Period and the Ottoman Renovation Period, the state carried out struggle activities in the fields of judicial-administrative, economic and healthcare and applied to serious sanctions against the use of drugs for pleasure. In order to set an example for the situation, considering the possibility of drug users to adapt others to drugs, it was seen that starting from legally condemning, the state authority applied sanctions that had social and legal consequences such as imprisonment and exile. In addition, the closure of the shops of the tradesmen who were found to sell drugs for pleasure, the seizure of their goods, the fact that drugs were not sold or used in pharmacies other than a doctor’s prescription, demonstrated the efforts of the state in different fields and scales. The state’s policies of struggle against the use of drugs for the purpose of pleasure have shown themselves in many areas until the last days of the Ottoman Empire, which has been valid since the Ottoman Classic Period. On the other hand, in developed countries such as America and Europe, these policies have only begun to be implemented since the late 19th century. Undoubtedly, with the developments in the pharmaceutical industry, mass production of substances such as morphine, codeine and heroin and the widespread use of these products in a pleasurable manner apart from medical purposes play a role. However, drug use in European countries dates back centuries, not only in the last period of the 19th century. On the other hand, the rapid spread of new drugs in Western societies has the effect on European countries and America to take action. Therefore, drug use in European countries and America started to be seen as a public health problem only from the end of the 19th century. As a result, strict policies of struggle, including the prohibition of production, were adopted throughout the world, and the Ottoman Empire, an important opium producer, was economically negatively affected.
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