Drug lingo is a part of an underground language that is meant to keep terms at bay to so that authorities will not catch wind of what is actually going on. People that buy drugs or sell drugs will use a secret language on text, a phone call or FaceTime, or even on email to keep from getting caught for their illegal activities. This covert jargon can include specific drugs that are being consumed or how the drugs are ingested into the body. “Chasing the dragon” is a phrase that has been used in the druggie world for many years that has a few connotations. The expression in one way refers to how someone uses heroin through smoking it. Placing powdered heroin on foil and heating it from below with a lighter creates the effect of “the dragon”. Heroin turns into a sticky substance that wiggles around like what one may envision a Chinese dragon to dance like. Once the smoke starts generating, the person that has heated up the heroin will begin to “chase” the smoke with a tube, a rolled-up magazine, or a newspaper. Another way the phrase “chasing the dragon” has taken meaning is by trying to catch the high that a person got with their very first high with the “dragon” being the drugs. Addiction in any capacity is typically all about trying to gain the feeling that one receives from their initial high. The problem with “catching the dragon” is that trying to regain anything in its original form can be difficult to recreate, especially with drugs. There are many elements that can impact the high such as tolerance being built with each use along with the potency and purity of the drug. Most people that use drugs are constantly trying to “chase the dragon” with no avail. Some think that the lyrics of the 1962 song by Peter, Paul, and Mary, “Puff the Magic Dragon”, was about smoking drugs. Even the artists themselves have been documented as saying that there is no innuendo to drugs with their song as it is merely about the childhood poem “Puff the Magic Dragon”. The dragon was supposed to be interpreted as the papers that were “draggin” when rolling the drugs inside of them and the puff was the action of smoking the drugs. Puff the Magic Dragon has been used in movies and other cultural references to give the allusion of drugs for comic value even though the artists continued state that there is no correlation. The moral of the story is to stay away from any dragon that has implications to smoking drugs. Chasing the dragon may be part of a secret code that could get you closer to actually chase your life away for good.
If you are someone you know is battling chasing the dragon, Serenity Oaks Wellness Center can help you to maintain your sobriety. Our 12-Step aspects and holistic therapy combined can show you how to adorn your soul in recovery.
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