"One must not think life with the mind, but with opium"André Malraux(1901-1976)MAN'S FATE

Shanghai Gal and her opium pipe

"It banishes melancholy, begets confidence, converts fear into boldness, makes the coward eloquent, and dastards brave. Nobody, in desperate circumstances, and smiling under a disrelish for life, ever laid violent hands on himself after taking a dose of opium, or ever will."

John Brown(1735 - 1788)Elementis Medicinae [1780]

* * *

"There is always a need for intoxication: China hasopium, Islam has hashish, the West has woman."André Malraux(1901-1976)MAN'S FATE

--

17th century engraving of man in Eastern dresscollecting juice from the buds of poppy plants

"The death of ennui is the most efficient bribe which opium offers"Silas Weir Mitchell(1824 - 1914)

Harvest time

"Heroin is very addictive but does not itself cause any serious illnesses, nor does it harm any organs or tissues"Dr Ben Goldacre

Methadone and Heroin:

An Exercise in Medical Scepticism

Opium Smoker

"Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a big fucking television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disk players and electrical tin openers...choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on the couch, watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pishing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarassment to the selfish, fucked-up brats you spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life. But why would I want to do a thing lke that? I chose not to choose life. I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?" Irvine Welsh TRAINSPOTTING (1996)

"Heroin: imagine the best orgasm you have ever had andmultiply it by a thousand and you're still nowhere near it"'Mark Renton' in TRAINSPOTTING

* * *

"All penalties for drug users should be dropped...Making drug abuse a crime is useless and even dangerous...Every year we seize more and more drugs but the quantity available still increases...Police are losing the drug battle worldwide"Raymond KendallSecretary General of Interpol 1994

* * *


HEROIN A powerful remedy for coughs
Advertisement from 1903 medical journal

"To our surprise we have not been able to locate even one scientific study on the proved harmful effects of addiction"Dr George H StephensonUniversity of British Columbia, 1956

***

H IS FOR HEROIN

Complete and unabridged

"That individuals may take morphine or some other opiate for20 years or more without showing intellectual or moraldeterioration is a common experience of physicians"Dr Lawrence Kolb, US Assistant Surgeon General, 1925

--

Heroin: the cure for asthma?

Medical fashions come and go

"Opium teaches only one thing, which is thataside from physical suffering, there is nothing real"André Malraux(1901-1976)MAN'S FATE

--

Mrs Winslow's Soothing Syrup

"For children teething. Greatly facilitates the process of Teething, by softening the gums, reducing all inflammation; will allay ALL PAIN and spasmodic action, and is SURE TO REGULATE THE BOWELS. Depend on it, Mothers, it will give rest to yourselves and RELIEF AND HEALTH TO YOUR INFANTS. Sold by all chemists, at 1s 1/2d per bottle."

"Oh, jab me with your needle a hundred timesAnd a hundred times I will bless you, Saint Morphine"Jules Verne(1828 - 1905)

The First Chinese Opium War

Early victims of the War On Drugs. A battle-scene from the First Chinese Opium War (1839-42)

"Reality is a crutch for people who can't handle drugs" George Bernard Shaw(1856 - 1950)

A New York Opium Den

"Nobody will laugh long who deals much with opium: its pleasures even are of a grave and solemn complexion." Thomas de Quincey(1785 - 1859)Confessions of an English Opium-Eater

Manila Opium Den

"I believe that pipe smoking contributes to a somewhat calm and objective judgement in all human affairs." Albert Einstein1879-1955)

"There were opium dens where one could buy oblivion, dens of horror where the memory of old sins could be destroyed by the madness of sins that were new"Oscar Wilde The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891)

Ayer's Cherry Pectoral

Just what the doctor ordered?

AYER'S CHERRY PECTORAL"Cures Colds, Coughs and allDiseases of the Throat and Lungs"

Opium-Pipe Smoking

Persian girl enjoying a pipe of opium

THE OPIUM-SMOKER

"I am engulfed, and drown deliciouslySoft music like a perfume, and sweet lightGolden with audible colours exquisite,Swathe me with cerements for eternity. Times is no more. I pause and yet I flee.A million ages wrap me round with night.I drain a milion ages of delight.I hold the future in my memory.

Also, I have this garret which I rent, This bed of straw, and this that was a chair,This worn-out body like a tattered tent,This crust, of which the rats have eaten part,This pipe of opium; rage, remorse, despair;This soul at pawn and this delirious heart."

Arthur Symons(1865-1945)

The Opium Poppy

According to one tradition, opium poppies sprung from the tearsof Aphrodite when she mourned for her beloved Adonis. "O poppy-buds, that in the golden airWave heavy hanging censers of delight,Give me an anodyne for my despair;O crimson poppy-blooms, O golden blight,O careless drunken heavy poppy-flowers, Make that the day for me be as the night.Give me to lie down in your drowsy bowers,That having breathed of your rich perfume,My soul may have all-rest through all the hours;So shall I lie within my little room.While the poor tyrants of the world go by,Restfully shrouded in your velvet gloom,Beneath the wide face of the cloudless sky."Paul BarnitzThe Book of Jade

The Opium Poppy : Papaver Somniferum

The Opium Poppy: Papaver SomniferumCommon names: White Poppy, Opium Poppy, Mawseed, Herb of Joy, Mohn, Klapper-Rosen, Mago, Magesamen, Weismagen, wilder Magen, Magensaph, Rosule, Adormidero, Hashas, Kheshkhash Abu Al Noum, O Fang, O Fu Jung, O P'Ien, Tengkoh, Ya P'Ien, Yu Mi.

"I was stared at, hooted at, grinned at, chattered at, by monkeys, by parquets, by cockatoos. I ran into pagodas, and was fixed, for centuries, at the summit, or in secret rooms: I was the idol; I was the priest; I was worshipped; I was sacrificed. I fled from the wrath of Brama through all the forests of Asia: Vishnu hated me; Seva laid wait for me. I came suddenly upon Isis and Osiris: I had done a deed, they said, which the ibis and the crocodile trembled at. I was buried for a thousand years, in stone coffins, with mummies and sphinxes, in narrow chambers at the heart of eternal pyramids. I was kissed, with cancerous kisses, by crocodiles; and laid, confounded with all unuttemble slimy things, amongst reeds and Nilotic mud."Thomas de Quincey(1785 - 1859)Confessions of an English Opium-Eater

* * *

Pipe Smoker

"A pipe is the fountain of contemplation, the source of pleasure, the companion of the wise; and the man who smokes, thinks like a philosopher and acts like a Samaritan." Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton(1803 - 1873)

The Pleasures of Constantinople

"May my last breath be drawn through a pipe, and exhaled in a jest." Charles Lamb (1775 - 1834)

Papaver Somniferum

"Among the remedies which it has pleased Almighty Godto give to man to relieve his sufferings, none isso universal and so efficacious as opium."Thomas Sydenham(1624 - 1689)

Samuel Taylor Coleridge(1772-1834)

"In Xanadu did Kubla KhanA stately pleasure-dome decreeWhere Alph, the sacred river, ranDown to a sunless sea...I would build that dome in air, That sunny dome, those caves of ice!And all who heard should see them there, And all should cry, Beware! Beware!His flashing eyes, his floating hair!Weave a circle round him thrice, And close your eyes with holy dread,For he on honey-dew hath fed,And drunk the milk of Paradise."

Samuel Taylor Coleridge(1772-1834)KUBLA KHAN

"Laudanum gave me repose, not sleep ; but you, I believe, know how divine that repose is, what a spot of enchantment, a green spot of fountain and flowers and trees in their very heart of a waste of sands!" George Coleridge(1772-1834)

"I hanker too much after a state of happiness,both for myself and others; I cannot facemisery, whether my own or not..."Thomas de Quincey(1785 - 1859)Confessions of an English Opium-Eater

* * *

Songs About Heroin

A (very) brief selection...

· Neil Young : The Needle and the Damage Done

· Rolling Stones : Dead Flowers

· Red Hot Chilli Peppers : Under The Bridge

· Velvet Underground : Heroin

· Guns N' Roses : Mr Brownstone

· The La's: There She Goes

· Dandy Warhols : Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth

· Sinéad O'Connor and U2 : Heroin

· The Stranglers : Golden Brown

· Wolfsheim : Heroin, She Said

· Pink Floyd : Comfortably Numb

· Placebo : My Sweet Prince

· Velvet Underground : Waiting for the Man

· The Ramones : Chinese Rock

· Lou Reed : Perfect Day

THE NEEDLE AND THE DAMAGE DONE

"I caught you knockin' at my cellar doorI love you, baby, can I have some moreOoh, ooh, the damage done.

I hit the city and I lost my bandI watched the needle take another manGone, gone, the damage done.

I sing the song because I love the manI know that some of you don't understandMilk-blood to keep from running out.

I've seen the needle and the damage doneA little part of it in everyoneBut every junkie's like a settin' sun."

* * *

The Rolling Stones

DEAD FLOWERS

"Well, when you're sitting thereIn your silk upholstered chairTalking to some rich folks that you knowWell I hope you won't see meIn my ragged companyYou know I could never be alone

Take me down little Susie, take me downI know you think you're the Queen of the UndergroundAnd you can send me dead flowers every morningSend me dead flower by the mailSend me dead flowers to my weddingAnd I won't forget to put roses on your grave

Well, you're sitting backIn your pink CadillacMaking bets on Kentucky Derby DayI'll be in my basement roomWith a needle and a spoonAnd another girl can take my pain away

Take me down little Susie, take me downI know you think you're the Queen of the UndergroundAnd you can send me dead flowers every morningSend me dead flower by the mailSend me dead flowers to my weddingAnd I won't forget to put roses on your grave

Take me down little Susie, take me downI know you think you're the Queen of the UndergroundAnd you can send me dead flowers every morningSend me dead flower by the US mailSay it with dead flowers at my weddingAnd I won't forget to put roses on your graveNo I won't forget to put roses on your grave"

* * *

Red Hot Chilli Peppers

UNDER THE BRIDGE

"Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partnerSometimes I feel like my only friendIs the city I live in, the city of angelsLonely as I am, together we cry

I drive on her streets cause she's my companionI walk through her hills cause she knows who I amShe sees my good deeds and she kisses me windyI never worry, now that is a lie.

Well, I don't ever want to feel like I did that dayTake me to the place I love, take me all the wayI don't ever want to feel like I did that dayTake me to the place I love, take me all the way, yeah, yeah, yeah

It's hard to believe that there's nobody out thereIt's hard to believe that I'm all aloneAt least I have her love, the city she loves me Lonely as I am, together we cry

Well, I don't ever want to feel like I did that dayTake me to the place I love, take me all the wayWell, I don't ever want to feel like I did that dayTake me to the place I love, take me all the way

Yeah... Yeah, yeah...Oh no, no no no, yeah yeah...Love me, I say, yeah yeah...One time

Under the bridge downtownIs where I drew some bloodUnder the bridge downtownI could not get enoughUnder the bridge downtownForgot about my loveUnder the bridge downtownI gave my life away

Yeah... Yeah, yeah...Oh no, no no no, yeah yeah...Way down I said, oh, yeah yeah...Will I stay?"

* * *

Velvet Underground

heroin.mp3(4.28MB)

HEROIN" I don't know just where I'm goingBut I'm gonna try for the kingdom, if I can'Cos it makes me feel like I'm a manWhen I put a spike into my veinAnd I'll tell ya, things aren't quite the sameWhen I'm rushing on my runAnd I feel just like Jesus' sonAnd I guess that I just don't knowAnd I guess that I just don't know

I have made the big decisionI'm gonna try to nullify my life'Cos when the blood begins to flowWhen it shoots up the dropper's neckWhen I'm closing in on deathAnd you can't help me now, you guysAnd all you sweet girls with all your sweet talkYou can all go take a walkAnd I guess that I just don't knowAnd I guess that I just don't know

I wish that I was born a thousand years agoI wish that I'd sail the darkened seasOn a great big clipper shipGoing from this land here to thatIn a sailor's suit and capAway from the big cityWhere a man can not be freeOf all of the evils of this townAnd of himself, and those aroundOh, and I guess that I just don't knowOh, and I guess that I just don't know

Heroin, be the death of meHeroin, it's my wife and it's my lifeBecause a mainer to my veinLeads to a center in my headAnd then I'm better off and deadBecause when the smack begins to flowI really don't care anymoreAbout all the Jim-Jim's in this townAnd all the politicians makin' crazy soundsAnd everybody puttin' everybody else downAnd all the dead bodies piled up in mounds

'Cos when the smack begins to flowThen I really don't care anymoreAh, when the heroin is in my bloodAnd that blood is in my headThen thank God that I'm as good as deadThen thank your God that I'm not awareAnd thank God that I just don't careAnd I guess I just don't knowAnd I guess I just don't know "

Guns N' Roses

THERE SHE GOES

"I get up around sevenGet outta bed around nineAnd I don't worry about nothin' noCause worryin's a waste of my... time

The show usually starts around sevenWe go on stage around nineGet on the bus about elevenSippin' a drink and feelin' fine

We been dancin' withMr BrownstoneHe's been knockin'He won't leave me alone

I used ta do a littleBut a little wouldn't doSo the little got more and moreI just keep tryin'Ta get a little betterSaid a little better than beforeI used ta do a littleBut a little wouldn't doSo the little got more and moreI just keep tryin'Ta get a little betterSaid a little better than before

We been dancin' withMr BrownstoneHe's been knockin'He won't leave me alone

Now I get up around wheneverI used ta get up on timeBut that old manHe's a real muthafuckerGonna kick him on down the line

I used ta do a little but a little wouldn't doSo the little got more and moreI just keep tryin' ta get a little betterSaid the little better than beforeI used ta do a little but a little wouldn't doSo the little got more and moreI just keep tryin' ta get a little betterSaid the little better than before

We been dancin' withMr BrownstoneHe's been knockin'He won't leave me alone

Shoved it in the bindle and I shot it in the middleAnd it, it drove outta my mindI should've known better, said I wish I never met her Said I, I leave it all behind. Yowsa!"

* * *






The La's

THERE SHE GOES

"There she goes There she goes againRacing through my brainAnd I just can't contain, this feeling that remains

There she blowsThere she blows againPulsing through my veinAnd I just can't contain, this feeling that remains

There she goesThere she goes againShe calls my name, pulls my trainAnd no-one else can heal my painBut I just can't can't contain, this feeling that remains

There she goesThere she goes againChasing down my laneAnd I just can't contain, this feeling that remains

There she goesThere she goesThere she goes"

* * *

DANDY WARHOL'S

Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth

heroinissopasse.mp3(3.197MB)

Heroin Is So Passé

I never thought you'd be a junkie because heroin is so passéAnd TodayIf you think that I don't know about depression and emotional painYou're insaneAnd your a fool who hasn't paid attention to a word that I sayIn a wayI can't help but feel responsible, I always knew that you were insaneWith your painBut I never thought you'd be a junkie because

Heroin is so passéHeroin is so passéHeroin is so passéaah....

So passéNow-a-dayYou never thought you'd get addicted, just be cooler in an obvious wayI could sayYou got a couple piercings and decided maybe that you were gayIn a wayI can't help but feel responsible, I always knew that you were insane With your painBut I never thought you'd be a junkie because

Heroin is so passéHeroin is so passéHeroin is so passéAaah...

Heroin is so passéHeroin is so passeHeroin is so passeAaah... "

* * *

Sinéad O'Connor

HEROIN

"Afraid, but you will not runAlone, thy will be doneconfessed, but you still feel the shameBring me into your arms againHeroineHeroineHeroineHeroinetouch these eyes with a broken smiletouch my mouth with your furrowed browwith my heart feel my shameLead me into rest againHeroineHeroineHeroineHeroineThe night is long,but the day will comewith promises were the chosen oneSoak the seaSweet tasteringfall tonight into my arms againHeroineHeroineHeroineHeroineThe night is longbut the day will comewith promises were the chosen oneSoak the seaSweet tasteringfall the night into the light of day"

* * *

Wolfsheim, 1999

HEROIN, SHE SAID

"Walking down the streets at nightI see her stumbling through the rainA skinny figure in the darkHer face a shade of grey

Begging here and barking thereShe's swearing all the timeHer fingers fumbling with her hairA dirty mess of grime

And she starts to cry and she's asking whyHer life's always the sameBut she does not see, that unfortunatelyThere's no one here to blame

"Heroin" she said, "was the best I had...No more mountains left to climb.The world so slow... all my dreams just too highTo be fulfilled in time...!

She grabs my arm... and I feel alarmedHer fingers gripping tightI see her pleading eyes... so I start to disguiseAnd say, that everything's alright...

And the reason why I pretended and liedIs that I don't want to killThe poor dream that's left in the deepest cleftOf the thing that she calls will...!

"Heroin" she said, "was the best I had...No more mountains left to climb.The world so slow... all my dreams just too highTo be fulfilled in time...!"

***

The Stranglers

GOLDEN BROWN" Golden brown texture like sunLays me down WITH my mind she runsThroughout the nightNo need to fightNever a frown with golden brown

Every time just like the lastOn her ship tied to the mastTo distant landsTakes both my handsNever a frown with golden brown

Golden brown finer temptressThrough the ages she's heading westFrom far awayStays for a dayNever a frown with golden brown

Never a frownWith golden brownNever a frownWith golden brown "

* * *

COMFORTABLY NUMB

"Hello?Is there anybody in there?Just nod if you can hear me.Is there anyone home?Come on, now.I hear you're feeling down.Well I can ease your pain,Get you on your feet again.Relax.I need some information first.Just the basic facts,Can you show me where it hurts?There is no pain, you are receding.A distant ship's smoke on the horizon.You are only coming through in waves.Your lips move but I can't hear what you're sayin'.When I was a child I had a fever.My hands felt just like two balloons.Now I got that feeling once again.I can't explain, you would not understand.This is not how I am.I have become comfortably numb.Ok.Just a little pinprick.There'll be no more ...Aaaaaahhhhh!But you may feel a little sick.Can you stand up?I do believe it's working. Good.That'll keep you going for the show.Come on it's time to go.There is no pain, you are receding.A distant ship's smoke on the horizon.You are only coming through in waves.Your lips move but I can't hear what you're sayin'.When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse,Out of the corner of my eye.I turned to look but it was gone.I cannot put my finger on it now.The child is grown, the dream is gone.I have become comfortably numb. "

***

My Sweet Prince

"Never thought you'd make me perspire.Never thought I'd do you the same.Never thought I'd fill with desire.Never thought I'd feel so ashamed.Me and the dragon can chase all the pain away.So before I end my day, remember..My sweet prince, you are the oneMy sweet princeyou are the oneNever thought I'd have to retireNever thought I'd have to abstainNever thought all this could back fireClose up the hole in my vainMe and my valuable friendcan fix all the pain awaySo before I end my dayrememberMy sweet princeyou are the oneMy sweet princeyou are the oneyou are the oneyou are the oneyou are the oneyou are the oneNever thought I'd get any higherNever thought you'd fuck with my brainNever thought all this could expireNever thought you'd go break the chainMe and you baby,still flush all the pain awaySo before I end my dayrememberMy sweet princeyou are the oneMy sweet princeyou are the oneyou are the oneyou are the oneyou are the oneyou are the oneyou are the oneyou are the oneyou are the oneyou are the oneMy sweet princeMy sweet prince"

* * *

I'M WAITING FOR THE MAN"I'm waiting for the manTwenty six dollars in my handUp to Lexington, One Two FiveSo sick and dirty more dead than aliveI'm waiting for the man

Hey white boy, what you doing uptown?Hey white boy, you're chasing all the women aroundOh pardon me sir it's furthest from my mindI'm just looking for a good friend of mineI'm waiting for the man

Here he comes, he's all dressed in blackPR shoes, and a big straw hatHe's never early, he's always lateFirst thing you learn is that you've always got to waitI'm waiting for the man

Brown stone building and three flights of stairsNobody stops you 'cause nobody caresHe's got the works and he gives you sweet tasteBut then you've got to split because you've got no time to wasteI'm waiting for the man

Baby don't you holler, darling don't you scream and shoutI'm feeling good, I'm going to work it on outI'm feeling good, I'm feeling so fineUntil tomorrow but that's just another timeI'm waiting for the man

I'm waiting for the manTwenty six dollars lying there in my handUp to Lexington, One Two Five fiveSo sick and dirty more dead than aliveI'm waiting for the man "

* * *

I'M WAITING FOR THE MAN

"Somebody calls me on the phoneSay hey-hey-hey is Arty homeYou wanna take a walkYou wanna go copYou wanna go get some Chinese rock

I'm livin' on a Chinese rockAll my best things are in hockI'm livin' on a Chinese rockEverything is in the pawn shop

The plaster fallin' off the wallMy girlfriend cryin' in the shower stallIt's hot as a bitchI should've been richBut I'm just diggin' a Chinese ditch"

* * *

PERECT DAY

"Just a perfect day,Drink Sangria in the park,And then later, when it gets dark, We go home.Just a perfect day,Feed animals in the zooThen later, a movie, too,And then home.

Oh it's such a perfect day, I'm glad I spent it with you.Oh such a perfect day,You just keep me hanging on,You just keep me hanging on.

Just a perfect day,Problems all left alone,Weekenders on our own.It's such fun.Just a perfect day,You made me forget myself.I thought I was someone else,Someone good.

Oh it's such a perfect day, I'm glad I spent it with you.Oh such a perfect day,You just keep me hanging on,You just keep me hanging on.

You're going to reap just what you sow,You're going to reap just what you sow,You're going to reap just what you sow,You're going to reap just what you sow..."

* * *

"Thou has the keys of Paradise, oh just, subtle and mighty opium"Thomas de QuincyConfessions of an English Opium-Eater



"...religion is the opiate of the people. Opium... opium... opium, yes.Let us give them opium so that they can sleep and dream." Miguel de Unamuno

"While I was sitting at tea, I felt a strange sensation, totally unlike anything I had ever felt before; a gradual creeping thrill, which in a few minutes occupied every part of my body -- producing a pleasing glow from head to foot, and inducing a sensation of dreamy exhilaration -- similar in nature but not in degree to the drowsiness caused by wine, though not inclining me to sleep; in fact far from it, that I longed to engage in some active exercise; to sing, dance, or leap...so vividly did I feel my vitality -- for in this state of delicious exhilaration even mere excitement seemed absolute elysium -- that I could not resist the tendency to break out in the strangest vagaries, until my companions thought me deranged....

After I had been seated [at the play I was attending] a few minutes, the nature of the excitement changed, and a 'waking sleep' succeeded. The actors on the stage vanished; the stage itself lost its reality; and before my entranced sight magnificent halls stretched out in endless succession with gallery above gallery, while the roof was blazing with gems, like stars whose rays alone illumined the whole building, which was tinged with strange, gigantic figures, like the wild possessors of a lost globe....

William Blair An Opium-eater in America (1842)

"Smoking opium evokes a condition of dreamy wakefulness... a state in which the devotee feels himself on a stratum above his fellow men and their pursuits--at peace with himself and all mankind -- a pleasant listless calm and contentment steals over him... This waking dream, this silken garment of the imagination, will take its shape and coloring from the most cherished and brilliant strands... and puts out of sight the real and unpleasant crudities of life..."H.H. Kane

"...the poppy's red effrontery" Robert Browning

)

"If it were not for the great variability among individuals medicine might as well be a science and not an art"William Ostler (1892"It is difficult to live without opium after having known it because it is difficult, after knowing opium, to take earth seriously. And unless one is a saint, it is difficult to live without taking earth seriously."Jean Cocteau(1889-1963) Perry Davis' "VEGETABLE PAIN KILLER"

"PAIN KILLER" was patented by Perry Davis in 1845. It is believed to be the first nationally advertised remedy specifically for pain - as distinct from a particular disorder. "Pain Killer" was distributed by Christian missionaries around the world. In its heyday, Perry Davis' "vegetable elixir" was widely regarded as a wonderdrug. Its ingredients, mainly opiates and ethyl alcohol, were entirely natural. The concoction was created Perry Davis in 1840. Since "Perry Davis Pain Killer" was a registered trade brand name, there was no legal requirement to make its ingredients public on the bottle.

Elixir of Opium

"It is not opium which makes me work but its absence, and in order for me to feel its absence it must from time to time be present." Antonin Artaud(1895 - 1948)

"Thought is a kind of opium; it can intoxicate us, while still broad awake; it canmake transparent the mountains and everything that exists."Henri Frederic Amiel(1821 - 1881)

Tincture of Opium

"It is difficult to live without opium after having known it because it is difficult, after knowing opium, to take earth seriously. And unless one is a saint, it is difficult to live without taking earth seriously."Jean Cocteau(1889 – 1963)

Tonkin Opium Smokers

“Whereas wine disorders the mental faculties, opium introduces amongst them the most exquisite order, legislation and harmony. Wine robs a man of self-possession; opium greatly invigorates it."Thomas De Quincey (1785 – 1859)

The Human Face of America'sWar at Home

The children of alleged medical marijuana provider Dennis Hunter stood outside the Sacramento office of the DEA to protest his being arrested and held without bail pending trial. Despite adoption of Proposition 215, a statewide California voter initiative to legalize the cultivation and use of medical marijuana, federal law takes its Draconian policy of zero tolerance to the extreme by forbidding juries from hearing evidence of medical use and thereby choosing to exercise their power to acquit in the interests of justice. This policy violates democracy and the voters' right to self-determination as it targets sick and dying people and destroys families.

Fence around a Tasmanian Poppie field 2002.














Opiumafhængige aber i Ghazipurs opiumsfabrik – Råopium soltørres i kæmpe fabrikskar.
Moderne opiumsindustri i Ghanzipur i Indien





Opium pakkes i pakkasser til export til USA - Godsvogne skubbes med håndkraft ind på stationen


Frøkapslerne samles og tømmes for valmuefrø – Statslig kontrollant checker opiumskvaliteten.


Heroinklorid i kiloballe – og i forskellige kvaliteter og diverse almindelige salgspakninger – breve og plast og gummikugler