Great post! I've thought about the opium wars often as I hear many working to remove all drug prohibitions. I lean way further towards the anarchist side of things and believe every rational individual should be in charge of their own bodies and what they put in them. Unfortunately, not everyone is a rational individual. I'm hopeful something like this couldn't happen today, but maybe that's wishful thinking. Maybe open access to any and all mind-altering substances isn't a good thing. Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

That said, it's not like government can stop this. I remember hearing the emperor was an opium addict even while he was making it illegal for others to use. Maybe instead of rulers trying to protect people from themselves, we can all level up and take personal responsibility. From there, we can hopefully help those who can't help themselves. Using the veil of ignorance, we can hopefully make moral decisions on how to do that in ways which we'll be thanked for later.