They're responsible for the slang terms
"hip" and
"dive."1 Among many other traditions, Chinese immigrants brought opium dens to the Western world. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens, and Oscar Wilde all embellished the existence of
opium dens in Victorian England. In the expanding US, Chinese railroad workers brought opium dens to outposts as far-flung as
El Paso. By the 1880s, US readers were familiar with the stereotypical opium den of urban Chinatowns like
San Francisco's (pdf) -- where it was made illegal for white people to smoke -- and
New York's (pdf).
2
Learn more about opium dens, and see the photos, at the online
Opium Museum.
[more inside]
posted by mudpuppie
on Oct 12, 2009 -
45 comments
"Iran is dying.
The collapse of Iran's birth rate during the past 20 years is the fastest recorded in any country, ever. Demographers have sought in vain to explain Iran's population implosion through family planning policies, or through social factors such as the rise of female literacy. But quantifiable factors do not explain the sudden collapse of fertility. It seems that a spiritual decay has overcome Iran, despite best efforts of a totalitarian theocracy.
Second, according to a recent report from the US Council on Foreign Relations, "Iran serves as the major transport hub for opiates produced by [Afghanistan], and the UN Office of Drugs and Crime estimates that Iran has as many as 1.7 million opiate addicts." That is, 5% of Iran's adult, non-elderly population of 35 million is addicted to opiates. That is an astonishing number, unseen since the peak of Chinese addiction during the 19th century."
[more inside]
posted by 445supermag
on Feb 24, 2009 -
72 comments
Pomegranate is the Answer. James Brett perhaps has an answer to Afghanistan's Opium issue:
On the drive back to Peshawar I saw the same farmer in his fields harvesting his crop. I asked my driver to stop the car. On the card I had previously bought I wrote the words ‘Pomegranate is the Answer’ and ran into the field to go and talk to the farmer. My translator called after me “Don’t go in there you could get shot” but it all happened in a second and I called back to him “come on I need you to translate” . Upon reaching a surprised farmer I asked him many questions and talked to him about the affects of Heroin and also the possibilities of Pomegranates. He explained to me about his family , children, how he lived and why he grew opium. I explained how it was possible for him to change his situation working together with other farmers and how this would help the people of Afghanistan and the rest of the world. He appears to be
having some success. (previously
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
...)
via Crooks and Liars
posted by caddis
on Nov 10, 2008 -
56 comments
So how's the War on Drugs proceeding in Afghanistan? Barry McCaffrey, former drug czar,
trumpets, "
Opium production has been dramatically slashed by 48% just in the past year[2005].". Oops, actually that's the acreage of opium cultivation; production went down by
only 10%, due to increased yields. In any case, that's so
last year. Instead of the socially detrimental
policy of poppy eradication, wouldn't it be
preferable to allow
licensing of poppies for legitimate medical needs? The Afghan farmers
agree, but some think the idea is
flawed.
posted by daksya
on Jun 16, 2006 -
17 comments
Drugs on the Rez. It's a hell of a life going from utter poverty, where your mom gets you drunk so you'll stop complaining about being hungry, to being able to buy your kids toys with $100 accessories and sending them to private schools, to going back to literally not having a quarter to call your dad. In this case, the money came from Canadian
oxycontin. It's not just Native Americans who are targeted by the authorities. It's also
Indians. There's a pretty good newish book on the subject of black markets,
Illicit. Laos' opium market is apparently gone -- in favor of
meth and Afghanistan's
market is black in name only, so why keep up the
facade?
posted by raaka
on Feb 20, 2006 -
14 comments
Well known for speaking the truth about governments and getting pressured for it [7th paragraph from the top], Alain Labrousse recently published his
Dictionnaire géopolitique des drogues [Geopolitical Dictionary of Drugs]. I don't think it's been translated in English yet, but all his previous works have, so I'm sure an English version is on the way.
His latest book is being well received by everyone who's interested in "open source" information about drugs, particularly how the various national economies profit from them.
A
recent review [in French], cites one example of twisted international relations concerning drugs [my translation]: Europe speaks no evil about activities in Morocco, the most important source of cannabis in the world, or in Turkey, where scores of laboratories transform afghan opium into heroin, simply because these two countries provide a frontline of resistance to radical Islam. In North America, in Mexico, the United States tolerated for 70 years the Institutional Revolutionary Party (
Partido Revolucionario Institucional - PRI), even though its leaders supported, and even chose mexican drug cartels. Geostrategic interests outweigh the most basic needs of the war against drugs.
posted by titboy
on Feb 5, 2003 -
0 comments
Afghanistan leads in poppy production Now that we have rid the country of the nasty controlling party, it is good to return to normal business so that exports can help make this a better world. Is this a part of our re-construction plan?
posted by Postroad
on Oct 27, 2002 -
19 comments
Taliban say they underminded the US economy by halting opium production. ``It's known in select circles.. that opium is more influential than oil in terms of its economic role in America in particular and the West as a whole,''
posted by stbalbach
on Jun 16, 2001 -
7 comments
How to get $43 millions dollars from the United States
- Strip all your female citizens of their human rights
- Single out religious minorities (for their "protection")
- Agree to crack down on opium farming without any real monitoring
The War on Drugs finds a
new ally in
The Taliban.
posted by alan
on May 29, 2001 -
18 comments
