PENGARUH PENETRASI BARAT DALAM PEREDARAN KOMODITAS CANDU DI INDONESIA ABAD KE-17 HINGGA KE-20

Abstract

Opium is one of the main plants in the manufacture of drugs which has the Latin name Papaver Somniferum which can cause dependence by giving a relaxing effect to a certain level until the user is unconscious. The historical method used in this research. This research proves that opium has been a monopoly merchandise of the Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie since the 1650s, and even this trading partnership formed the 'Societeyt van den Amphioen' or known as the Amphioen Foundation to handle the illegal opium sales. The East Indian Company under the British which controlled Bengkulu also formed the Bencoolen Opium Society in 1760 resembling a Dutch-formed foundation. The Amphioen Foundation was dissolved in 1794 which was replaced by an opium pacht with a system of trade rights auction which resulted in the emergence of toll booths under Chinese traders during the 1820s decade. The Nederlandsche Handels Maatschappij company belonging to the Kingdom of the Netherlands then took over all the opium ships and obtained all the profits from large and small trade since 1827. The colonial government then implemented the opium regie in 1902 so that the opium trade was under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Finance of the Dutch East Indies Government. The historical dynamics of opium in this period show that almost all systems implemented by Western nations are monopolistic, profit-oriented, and do not aim to reduce the consumption of opium.