Caught in between religion and revolution, opium turned from a politically dicey government cash crop into an evil and illegal narcotic. And the minds behind the anti-opium campaign in the Philippines would arguably set the tone for anti-drug wars around the globe.

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References:

Bamero, Alma (2006). “Opium: The Evolution of Policies, the Tolerance of the Vice, and the Proliferation of Contraband Trade in the Philippines,1843-1908.” Social Science Diliman 3(1-2), 49-83.

Taft, William Howard (1903, July 13). [Letter from William H. Taft to Elihu Root]. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Research/Digital-Library/Record?libID=o41275

Wertz, Daniel P. (2013). “Idealism, Imperialism, and Internationalism: Opium Politics in the Colonial Philippines, 1898-1925.” Modern Asian Studies, 47(2), 467-499.

Ginsberg, Philip (1970). “The Chinese in the Philippine Revolution.” Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives 8(1). https://www.asj.upd.edu.ph/mediabox/archive/ASJ-08-01-1970/ginsburg-chinese-philippine-revolution.pdf

Zarco, Ricardo M. (1995). “A Short History of Narcotic Drug Addiction in the Philippines, 1521-1959.” Philippine Sociological Review 43(1/4), 1-15.

Clip of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” from the United States Army Band’s YouTube page.