Chasing the dragon
5342540
220912410
2008-06-22T05:05:49Z
Tiger Khan
150798
{{Unreferenced|date=July 2007}}
'''"Chasing the dragon"''' (a [[slang]] phrase of [[Cantonese (linguistics)|Cantonese]] origin from [[Hong Kong]]) refers to inhaling the smoke from heated [[morphine]], [[heroin]] or [[opium]], which is referred to as a [[dragon]] in some Asian cultures. The term evokes the similarity between the rippling smoke and a dragon's tail.
"Chasing the dragon" may pose less immediate danger to the user than injecting heroin, due to eliminating the risk of transmission of [[HIV]], [[hepatitis]] and other diseases through [[needle sharing]], as well as the stress that injecting puts on veins. The technique also avoids the delivery of heroin into the bloodstream instantaneously, as is the case with injection, a fact which may reduce one's chances of accidentally [[overdose|overdosing]]. A small puff can be inhaled as a method of gauging the strength of the heroin. Also, the lungs can act to filter out additional pollutants that otherwise would pass directly into the bloodstream; however, in any case it is never harmless to expose the lungs to any kind of smoke. Inhaling heroin may lead to [[toxic leukoencephalopathy]].
"Chasing the dragon" may be accomplished with a vaporizing pipe; traditional opium pipes are vaporizing pipes. A makeshift method involves putting the substance in an empty teapot, heating it over a stove, and inhaling through the nozzle using the nose or mouth. Heating on a small piece of aluminum foil and inhaling through a tube (usually a cut-up pen) is another common method.
"Chasing the dragon" can also refer to the practice of [[prostitution]] by some female heroin addicts to fuel their drug habit.
== In Popular Culture ==
'Kissing the crab' is the Portsmouth (UK) equivalent of this phrase.
=== In Music ===
* "Chasing the Dragon" is a 1970s Cantonese song by [[Wan Kwong]].
* "Chasing the Dragon" is the title of the first track on the album [[Dragonslayer (album)|Dragonslayer]] by [[Dream Evil]]
* The chorus to the song "Bandwagon" by female hip hop artist [[Macromantics]] references "chasing the dragon": "Everyone's just trying to jump on the bandwagon/ but I'm chasing the back of a damn dragon./ A mad madame./ Compliments ain't what I wish for/ My hiss-gawk spit talk stabs discourse with a pitchfork."
* Chasing the Dragon is mentioned in [[Thrash metal]] band [[Lamb of God (band)|Lamb of God]]'s song "Beating on Death's Door", in the lyrics "...chasing a dragon in a lady's clothes, a paper trail ends in choking smoke"
* ''Chasing the Dragon'' is [[Led Zeppelin]] [[bootleg recording]] of a concert at Memorial Auditorium, [[Dallas, Texas]] on March 4, 1975, released by Empress Valley label.
* [[Symphonic metal]] band [[Epica]] has a song called Chasing the Dragon, from their album the Divine Conspiracy.
* [[Grindcore]] band [[Napalm Death]] uses the term in the anti-[[heroin]] song "Mindsnare": "Chasing the dragon who's frying your brain, the shit that once gave you the high." <ref>[http://www.darklyrics.com/lyrics/napalmdeath/harmonycorruption.html#8 NAPALM DEATH LYRICS - Harmony Corruption (1990)<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
*"Chasing the Dragon" is the title of various songs by [[rapper]] [[Ill Bill]], American [[glam metal]] band [[L.A. Guns]], Dutch [[symphonic metal]] band [[Epica (band)|Epica]]
*The term is also mentioned in the [[Placebo (band)|Placebo]] song "My Sweet Prince", which is partly about heroin, in the line "me and the dragon, can chase all the pain away."
*It is mentioned in the song "So Young" by [[Suede (band)|Suede]].
*It is featured as "this dragon we chase" into the song named "IF I Could Fly" by [[Boy George]], on his 1995 album ''Cheapness And Beauty'', and his 2002 set ''U Can Never B 2 Straight''.
*It is mentioned in one [[Steely Dan]] song, notably "Time Out of Mind" ("tonight when I chase the dragon, water will change to cherry wine, silver will turn to gold").
*The song "Skull", featured in the 1994 album ''Bakesale'' by indie lo-fi band [[Sebadoh]], features lyrics which refer to chasing the dragon.
*The title of [[Urge Overkill]]'s album ''Exit The Dragon'' references the act of exhaling [[heroin]] smoke (as well as the [[Bruce Lee]] film ''[[Enter the Dragon]]''). The front cover is a picture of (presumably) exhaled smoke. The song "The Mistake", a warning to "beware the overdose", contains the lyrics "Never gonna make it today/Until you finally exit the dragon". Ex-drummer [[Blackie Onassis]] is a known heroin addict, and was fired from the band for his addiction.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
*The term is mentioned in the [[Ozzy Osbourne]] song "Junkie" from his 2001 album ''[[Down to Earth (Ozzy Osbourne album)|Down to Earth]]'': "You're chasing the dragon, you're chasing the high / A bird with one wing who's still trying to fly". The song is about drug addiction.
*The song "Lucy" by [[Dustin's Bar Mitzvah]] makes reference to the act in the lyric "You can chase all you want, but you'll never catch the dragon".
*[[Melora Creager]] mentions that her mother chased the dragon in her opening monologue for "Momma was an Opium Smoker" before her band, [[Rasputina]], plays the song on ''[[A Radical Recital]]''.
*The [[Queensrÿche]] song "Operation: Mindcrime" (from the 1988 [[Operation: Mindcrime|album]] of the same name) includes the lyric "Had a habit doin' mainline, watch the dragon burn."
*The song "Givin' Up" by [[The Darkness]] includes the line, "Get up off my face, there's a dragon I must chase"
* The song "Chasing Dragons", from Norwegian metal band [[1349 (band)|1349]]'s album [[Beyond the Apocalypse]], is about the experience of this type of drug use.
*Australian rock supergroup [[Beasts of Bourbon]]'s 1991 album "The Low Road" begins with the track "Chase The Dragon". [[Tex Perkins]] sings "I brought back/a souvenir/all the way/from Kampuchea/a plastic bag shoved up my ass"
*English space rock band [[Spiritualized]] have alluded to heroin throughout their work, including the track entitled [[Electric Mainline]] from the heavily drug-referenced album ''[[Pure Phase]]''.
*In [[A Perfect Circle]]'s song "Weak and Powerless" a slight variation of "chasing the dragon" is mentioned in the lyrics. The relevant lyrics are "jam another dragon down the hole" which alludes to heroin injection rather than inhalation.
*The song "Taking Chase as the Serpent Slithers" by the [[RX Bandits]] is wholly about lead singer Matt Embree's own addiction. It describes how it "moves so slowly" and how the singer's "aches and shakes" won't seem to let up.
*The title of song number 2 on Greg Howe's and Richie Kotzen's album "Tilt".
*Progressive rock bassist [[John Wetton]]'s 1994 live album is named Chasing the Dragon.
*The song "Cool enough" by Dana Fuchs "And Im jumping off the wagon, gonna chase another dragon"
*The [[Robert Hunter]] lyrics to the [[Grateful Dead]]'s "Fire on the Mountain" refers to a "dragon with matches that's loose on the town." The line is often interpreted as referring to [[Jerry Garcia]]'s habit of smoking Persian.
*The song "Lower World" by Dutch indie band [[at the close of every day]] from their 2002 album 'Zalig zijn de armen van geest' starts with the sentence "How long have you been chasing the dragon". The song was inspired by the feature film [[From Hell]] of 2001.
===In Film and Television===
*In the episode ''[[A Family Matter]]'' in the ''[[Gilmore Girls]]'' series, [[Paris Gellar]] tells her boyfriend that [[Rory Gilmore|Rory]]'s friend Lane is "chasing the dragon" as an excuse so she doesn't have to see him, the irony being that none of these characters understood what the term meant.
*In the film ''[[Killing Zoe]]'', [[Eric Stoltz]]'s character performs this and promptly [[hallucination|hallucinates]].
* Inspector [[Frederick Abberline]] of the famed [[Jack the Ripper]] serial murder investigation is fictionally portrayed as an opium and [[absinthe]] addict in the 2001 [[From Hell (film)|film adaptation]] of the [[graphic novel]] [[From Hell]]. His peers in the story refer to his opium habit as "chasing the dragon."
*''[[The Sopranos|Sopranos]]'' character [[Christopher Moltisanti]] ([[Michael Imperioli]]) can be seen chasing the dragon in some episodes, most notably in the episode "[[Kaisha]]".
*In the movie ''[[Gia]]'', starring [[Angelina Jolie]], the phrase 'chasing the dragon' is used on the set of a photo shoot in which Gia is high on heroin.
*In the film ''[[Once Upon a Time in America]]'', the phrase "chasing the dragon" is mentioned several times and [[Robert De Niro]]'s character is seen doing so in an opium den behind a shadow puppet theatre.
*In the "[[Guitar Queer-o]]" episode of ''[[South Park]],'' [[Stan Marsh|Stan]] plays a video game called "Heroin Hero," which involves injecting yourself with heroin while literally chasing a dragon that you can never catch. Another game, "Rehab Hero," is also mentioned, where the dragon chases '''you'''.
*Title of multiple films - from different genres, but usually involving drug addiction.
===In Literature===
*In the comic by [[Hergé]], [[The Blue Lotus]] [[Tintin]] meets "The Sons of the Dragon" dedicated to the fight against opium and is seen to enter an opium den.
*The [[autobiography]] "Chasing the Dragon" by missionary [[Jackie Pullinger]] recalls how she went to Hong Kong to help drug addicts quit "chasing the dragon". She did this through Christian teaching and prayer.
*Nikki Sixx's autobiography "The Heroin Diaries: A Year In The Life Of A Shattered Rockstar" frequently uses the term "chasing the dragon" throughout the book.
== References ==
<references/>
* [http://www.drugtext.org/sub/chase1.htm ANNEX 1 From 0 to 600 centigrade in 2 seconds Chasing the dragon]
[[Category:Drug culture]]
[[Category:Heroin]]
[[nl:Chinezen (drugs)]]
<references/>
* [http://www.wearethelyrics.com/2/at_the_close_of_every_day_lyrics_1858/lower_world_lyrics_20134.html at the close of every day – lyrics of the song 'Lower World']