Browsing the OED (...as one does), I notice a whole lot of "opium X" expressions noted from the very late 18th into the mid 19th century, mostly related to opium consumption and its problems (opium den, opium sky, opium-shattered, etc.). I understand the timing in the general context of trade and Chinoiserie, but how did all this opium consumption affect people's lives and the overall nature/direction of contemporary English society and culture? Like, did opium dens become "the room where it happened," or did people escape there because opium made them the room where nothing happened and if so was this seen as a problem, etc.

(I am not looking for a primer on the Opium Wars/maneuvering to legalize the opium trade.)