chasing the dragon
Smoking opiate fumes
Chasing the dragon is inhaling the vapors of heroin (or sometimes other drugs) heated on foil, the smoke rising and curling like a dragon's tail that the user follows with a tube.
The phrase extends metaphorically to any pursuit of an elusive high or pleasure that can never quite be recaptured: After that first win, he spent years chasing the dragon at the casino.
- opiumNarcotic from scored seedpods
- heroinIllegal addictive opiate
- aluminum foilThin metallic kitchen sheeting
- obsessionPersistent, intrusive preoccupation
- methamphetamineAddictive synthetic stimulant drug
futility · slang · unattainable · vaporization · metaphor · tinfoil · dependency · idiom · escapism · perfectionism · withdrawal · rock bottom · narcotics · drug culture · detoxification · counterculture · desire · fixation
- drug routesoral, nasal, inhalation, injection, sublingual
- opioid addictionheroin, opium, morphine, fentanyl, codeine
chasing the dragonshooting up
Rising or injecting rapidly
mainlining · injecting · slamming · snorting · insufflation
chasing the dragonsobriety
Unimpaired mental state
clean living · staying sober · abstinence · recovery · kicking the habit
chasing the dragoncontentment
Peaceful satisfaction with circumstances
chase, chased, chaser, chasers, chases, chasing, dragon, dragons, dragonfly