Chasing the dragon
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Twice in the past 18 years, Mir Khawaja has tried to kick his heroin habit so he can support his wife and four daughters. But the temptations are too great and the heroin too cheap.
“Chasing the dragon” (a slang phrase of Cantonese origin from Hong Kong, Traditional Chinese: 追龍, Simplified Chinese: 追龙, Cantonese Jyutping: zeoi1 lung4, pinyin: zhuī lóng) refers to inhaling the smoke from heated morphine, heroin or opium that has been placed on a piece of foil. The ‘chasing’ occurs as the user gingerly keeps the liquid moving in order to keep it from coalescing into a single, unmanageable mass.
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