The Origin of Chasing the Dragon

me and some friends have had a bit of a running argument. We smoke rocked cocaine (crack) in a pipe and somehow came up with the term "chasing the dragon" however someone else told us that chasing the dragon refers to heroine.


Is heroine the proper term for chasing the dragon, or is it for smoking crack/heroine in general?

[white_lighter]

chasing the dragon is smoking cocain some people just light it on tin foil and inhale it through a straw

[OneDiaDem]

Here is a history on "Chasing the dragon.</font>

Heroin smoking by 'chasing the dragon': origins and history
by
Strang J, Griffiths P, Gossop M
National Addiction Centre
(The Maudsley/Institute of Psychiatry), London, UK.
Addiction 1997 Jun; 92(6):673-83; discussion 685-95

ABSTRACT
The history of heroin smoking and the subsequent development and spread of 'chasing the dragon' are examined. The first heroin smoking originated in Shanghai in the 1920s and involved use of porcelain bowls and bamboo tubes, thereafter spreading across much of Eastern Asia and to the United States over the next decade. 'Chasing the dragon' was a later refinement of this form of heroin smoking, originating in or near Hong Kong in the 1950s, and refers to the ingestion of heroin by inhaling the vapours which result when the drug is heated-typically on tin-foil above a flame. Subsequent spread of 'chasing the dragon' included spread to other parts of South East Asia during the 1960s and 1970s, to some parts of Europe during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and to much of the Indian sub-continent during the 1980s. At the time of writing, 'chasing the dragon' has now been reliably reported from many parts of the world but not from others with an established heroin problem-such as the United States and Australia. The significance of this new form of heroin use is examined, including consideration of the role of the different effect with this new form of use, the different types of heroin, and changing public attitudes to injecting.

[Woodman]

Nice post Dia!

From a practical perspective you're simply burning
the drugs on tin foil and chasing the smoke with a
straw to inhale it as it rises.

This can be done with either heroin or crack, but
allowing the smoke to rise freely means that some
can actually get away. I believe you would get more
from smoking it out of a pipe because it directs ALL
of the smoke to you where you don't have to "chase"
it and risk losing some.