We see how this flower has played, and continues to play, a pivotal role - not just in the lives of people who grow, manufacture and use it - but also in the increasingly tense sphere of international relations. In the process, our assumptions about addiction and the War on Drugs are challenged.

Opium is a commodity that has tremendous power - both to ease pain and to destroy lives. For centuries, this flower has played, and continues to play, a pivotal role, not just in the lives of people who grow, manufacture and use it, but also in the increasingly tense sphere of international relations. This program follows a journey around the world, where conflicting forces do battle over this narcotic sap.