Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
IN the 1800’s British merchants did a roaring trade in smuggling opium, a highly addictive poppy derivative, into China. The Chinese government were naturally unhappy with the steady stripping of Chinese silver alongside mass addiction and this led to two wars and prohibition. But the habit was hard to kick. When Chinese migrants left China in the 19th century they brought pipe-smoking opium dens with them to England, the US and elsewhere. These dens became emblems of underworldly iniquity, romanticised as exotic sites.
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CHAR — ISSUE ONE
