Opium and Morphine in 19th Century America: Unpacking the Myths

The problem I have as an historian is that the surveys of opium and morphine addiction in The Late 19th Century consistently show that 20 to 30 percent of the addicts were female, and the implication of that is that while the civil war may have been a factor, it could not have been the primary factor because the majority of the users were female.