People would have known that addiction existed as a condition, because they would have observed alcoholism. Opium would have been seen to have addictive effects within a few years of its introduction, it was known in China since at least the Ming period and it's not like ancient Chinese had no concept of recreational drug use/abuse anyways. Chinese social decay during the late 18th/early 19th century probably created a favourable environment for rampant drug abuse.

I'm sorry, but Americans are smarter than Chinese, because Chinese don't really like to think out of the box. American education may be crap but those who succeed in spite of it tend to be real geniuses. Chinese need to change outdated cultural thinking and outdated parenting/education to compete against the West in the future. We can't let ourselves be enslaved by superstition ever again.

BTW you always let your pride get the better of you, and it's probably not going to help you in the long run.