Peter Lee's Opium Culture - which just as its title says tells of more or less every single little detail that has to do with the Chinese opium culture - is an extremely thorough and detailed book. Well, is that a good or a bad thing? It's both, actually.

But let's start with what's good. Lee doesn't only describe opium the drug, but also the great importance it has had for especially Chinese culture (even though the Chinese definitely weren't the first ones to realize its narcotic and medicinal potentials; those things were known thousands of years before the Chinese caught on), how national and international politics have been affected by it, all the savage wars started because of it, and much, MUCH, more. The books is simply packed with interesting and often quite disturbing information, and Lee makes sure to give equal space to both the negative as well as the positive sides of opium use.

So, what's bad, then? Well, the fact that it from time to time becomes almost too detailed, especially the long and very thorough instructions on how to prepare the opium pipe, the different tools used and how to use them, what material they're made of, and so on.

But then again, Lee set out to paint a complete picture, and that's exactly what he did. However, it's quite likely that many people will be upset, since what he's talking about and describing is, after all, something that the Man has decided to be criminal. And many of those complaining will most likely accuse Lee of trying to make his readers into devoted opium smokers.

But that's not fair at all. And why not? Because Opium Culture has tons of information about the horrible aspects of drug addiction. Lee thinks anyone should be allowed to smoke, that much is true, but not without knowing exactly what they're getting themselves into. Most Westerners have a flawed take on how the use of opium was a part of Eastern traditions for many centuries (and still is), and I don't doubt for a second that people would be more than pissed off if they know the truth about opium politics and how the pharmaceutical companies in the West function.

In the end, Opium Culture is a true eye-opener with tons of history, politics, ethnology, anthropology, and more, and if you after reading it still want to accuse Peter Lee of being a junkie who got lost in the opium haze a long time ago, well, then you're just being narrow-minded and lacking a tolerance for cultures that happen to be different from our own.

I work for Asia Galleries in San Francisco where we sell a lot of Antique Opium Artifacts. This book is one of the books we use to identify our dampers, pipes, lams, and scrapers. This book is really helpful.

http://www.collectorsweekly.com/article ... nderworld/
How Collecting Opium Antiques Turned Me Into an Opium Addict

Americans smoke opium in a Chinese-run opium den in New York City in 1925.

Martin: The Chinese who came to California for the Gold Rush brought opium smoking to this country. But opium itself was here before they arrived, as an ingredient in patent medicines imported from Europe. The Chinese did not bring opium to the States, but they did introduce a very efficient system for using the drug recreationally. Because Chinese workers were isolated in Chinatowns when they first came here around 1849, it took about 20 years for opium smoking to catch on with non-Chinese. You don’t read about instances of non-Chinese smoking opium until the late 1860s.

The first American citizens who smoked were people who were hanging out in Chinatown, like gamblers, petty criminals, and prostitutes—they were the first ones who got hooked. In turn, they got their friends into it, and by the time of the earthquake in 1906, I’m sure some wealthy white San Franciscans had their own opium-smoking rooms in their houses. Once it caught on with Americans, it spread east very quickly, along the railroads to Chicago, New York, and eventually, New Orleans. According to H.H. Kane’s 1881 book, people didn’t travel around with their own opium pipes, so they had to rely on opium dens. By that time, there were hardly any cities in the eastern United States, and certainly none in the West, that didn’t have an opium den. Often it was just a back room in a Chinese laundry.

An example of an opium tray and accoutrements. The metalwork is designed to reflect the lamp light.


Opium smoking layout including a solid ivory opium pipe.

Collectors Weekly: Why did the United States get involved with opium bans in Asia?

A police officer poses with opium pipes, opium lamps, and other paraphernalia confiscated at opium den raids in San Francisco.

Martin: A lot of the countries back then had opium monopolies and were selling opium in licensed dens and making revenue from it, especially the European colonies in Southeast Asia, like the French in Indochina, the British in Burma, and the Dutch in Indonesia. The only colonial power in Southeast Asia that wasn’t making money off it was the U.S.

When the U.S. took over the Philippines in 1898, one of the first things our government did was to ban opium and crack down on it. A lot of the opium paraphernalia I found in the States on eBay probably belonged to missionaries, who used these pieces as props when they went on the talk circuit to raise money for their mission. They’d buy a lot of the most opulent pieces in Asia, but they were obviously never used.

[ Oh, The Horror ]

Confiscated opium pipes in Hawaii are piled up and readied for burning in this photo, circa 1920.

Collectors Weekly: What is a flower boat pleasure craft?

Martin: Those were in Canton, specifically. Back in the day, opium smoking was popular at Asian bordellos, as men believed opium gave them staying power. The flower boats were very opulent boats. You’d rent them and go out on the Pearl River. You could spend a night or days on the boat smoking opium, and the women attendants would, basically, cater to the client’s every whim, from sensual massage to food.

[Great interview, click link at top, I've just sniped a bit.]

Martin's Museum: http://www.opiummuseum.com/index.pl?home

Opium-smoking in America and China; a study of its prevalence, and effects, immediate and remote, on the individual and the nation

[Free ebook, many formats]

https://archive.org/details/opiumsmokingina00kanegoog

You'll never Know What you're Getting Into



Mor cool Pics: http://www.peachridgeglass.com/2013/02/ ... ill-moving

http://www.herbmuseum.ca/category/exhib ... bits/opium

http://www.georgesdayan.com/features/laos/

Laos. Opium, the infamous swap.

In the mountainous regions of northern Laos, consumption of opium is officially tolerated among tribal people.
Most of men are smoking to the point they can’t do anything.
Women are assuming almost all the laborious works in addition to the ones from the daily family life. Their lives become so exhausting that in their turn they start smoking opium.
Entire villages are dependent of the drug.
The Lao government does not seem to discourage the practice.
The Lao Army swap opium withdrawn from the previous crop of the tribal people for their reserve of rice and corn.



+ 27 pics

Drugs are bad and anyone who uses them should be executed. My friend Sam died his first time trying the marijuana.... All he smoked was 1 marijuana cigarette. R. I. P. Bro

Sir_Quality_U_Feel wrote:Drugs are bad and anyone who uses them should be executed. My friend Sam died his first time trying the marijuana.... All he smoked was 1 marijuana cigarette. R. I. P. Bro

?

phuketrichard wrote:My sympathy

also
Cars are bad;
i had a good friend die in a car accident, anyone that uses them should be hung up an beat to death

Yes, because using cars and using marijuana are exactly the same thing.

/sarcasm

Your point is a good one, but your 'reductio ad absurdum' logic trashes it.