The opioid crisis is one of the largest social problems of the modern world. But in order to fully treat all affected by it, including those who harvest opium poppies around the world, researchers must look at how and why the drug trade of opium began and spread. That is where Assistant Professor of history Benjamin Siegal focuses his work and his recent travels. Research for his forthcoming book Markets of Pain: A Transnational History of the United States Opioid Crisis includes traveling to poppy fields throughout India and other parts of the world. He used his past experience as a reporter—along with help from his wife, Research Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Earth and Environment Caterina Scaramelli—to trace the drug’s movement throughout time, the farmers in India who depend on it for work, and how the pharmaceutical industry took advantage of it.
You can read more about Benjamin’s upcoming book and research in the Budha village in India at The Brink.
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