CHASE THE DRAGON

verbal phrase (Drugs) In the slang of drug users, to take heroin (or heroin mixed with another smokable drug) by heating it on a piece of folded tin foil and inhaling the fumes. Etymology: The phrase is reputed to be translated from Chinese and apparently arises from the fact that the fumes move up and down the piece of tin foil with the movements of the molten heroin powder, and these undulating movements resemble the tail of the dragon in Chinese myths. History and Usage: This method of taking heroin comes from the Far East, as does the imagery of the phrase. It has been practised in the West since at least the sixties; in the eighties, with the threat of contracting Aids from used needles, it became more popular than injecting and the phrase became more widely known. Probably the stuff was now only twenty per cent pure. Still, good enough for 'chasing the dragon' Hong Kong style with match, silver foil, and paper tube. Timothy Mo Sour Sweet (1982), p. 50 A hundred men or more lay sprawled 'chasing the dragon'--inhaling heroin through a tube held over heated tinfoil. The Times 24 May 1989, p. 13 A smokeable dollop of heroin costs about $10, about the same as a 'rock' of crack, which means that one can 'chase the dragon' for $20. Sunday Telegraph 18 Feb. 1990, p. 17