OPIUM

O | gong | Chinese molasses

Can be smoked or taken as tincture of opium.

Source: Poppy seeds.

Legal code: Illegal.

History: Since prehistoric times, opium has been used in a tea made from opium poppies. It was used medicinally in the Middle East up to 4,000 years ago. Archaeologists have discovered opium pipes dating back to 1000 B.C. Between A.D. 600 and 900, opium was introduced by the Arabs to China, where it was used medicinally at first and then for pleasure, resulting in a huge number of opium addicts. China banned opium in the 1800s, causing a war with England, which had a huge opium business in China. President William Howard Taft, after he witnessed firsthand how opium destroyed China's advanced civilization, pressed Congress to pass legislation restricting narcotics--efforts that culminated, after his term in office, in the Harrison Narcotic Act of 1914. Opium has been around in the United States for hundreds of years and was available in many household medicines until it was outlawed in 1914.

Effects: Opium users describe a pleasurable rush and then a dreamy state with very low sensitivity to pain.

Risks: There's a high risk of death by overdose, even on the first try. Overdoses are more common with injection but are possible from snorting and smoking. Breathing slows to the point where it may stop altogether. Other side effects include dry and itchy skin, pinpointed pupils, delayed periods, loss of sex drive, nausea, vomiting, and chronic constipation. Opium carries a very high risk of addiction, and withdrawal is miserable.

Do not combine with: Anything that also slows breathing, including alcohol, barbiturates, Quaaludes, or Valium.

Addiction rating: High.