Chasing the dragon

"Chasing the dragon" (traditional Chinese: 追龍; simplified Chinese: 追龙; pinyin: zhuī lóng; Jyutping: zeoi1 lung4) is a slang phrase of Cantonese origin from Hong Kong referring to inhaling the vapor from a heated solution of morphine, heroin, oxycodone, opium, or ya ba (a pill containing caffeine and methamphetamine). The "chasing" occurs as the user gingerly keeps the liquid moving in order to keep it from overheating and burning up too quickly. The moving smoke is chased after with a tube through which the user inhales. Often done on a heat conducting material such as aluminium foil, the process may be referred to as a foily in English.

In modern parlance the original meaning has morphed somewhat, and it has come to be used as a metaphor for an addict's constant pursuit of the feelings of their first high. The "dragon" being mythical represents a goal that can never be achieved, because it does not exist.

Health

Such ingestion may pose less immediate danger to the user than injecting heroin, due to eliminating the risk of transmission of HIV, hepatitis, and other diseases through needle sharing, as well as the stress that injection puts on veins. A small puff can be inhaled as a method of gauging the strength of the heroin. Also, the lungs can act to filter out additional pollutants that otherwise would pass directly into the bloodstream; however, in any case, it is always harmful to expose the lungs to any kind of smoke and inhaling heroin itself may lead to toxic leukoencephalopathy.[1][2]

In popular culture

References

  1. ↑ Offiah, C.; Hall, E. (2008). "Heroin-induced leukoencephalopathy: characterization using MRI, diffusion-weighted imaging, and MR spectroscopy". Clinical Radiology. 63 (2): 146–152. doi:10.1016/j.crad.2007.07.021. PMID 18194689.
  2. ↑ Buxton, J. A.; Sebastian, R.; Clearsky, L.; Angus, N.; Shah, L.; Lem, M.; Spacey, S. D. (2011). "Chasing the dragon - characterizing cases of leukoencephalopathy associated with heroin inhalation in British Columbia". Harm Reduction Journal. 8 (1). doi:10.1186/1477-7517-8-3.
  3. ↑ Chasing the Dragon by Justina Robson reviewed by Niall Harrison, Strange Horizons, 19 February 2010, http://www.strangehorizons.com/reviews/2010/02/chasing_the_dra-comments.shtml
  4. ↑ John Tracey (2007). "Urge Overkill Feature: A Rock Star Runs Errands". The Spill Magazine Online. Toronto. Retrieved February 2009. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsrRUCX8bS0

External links

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