For years I have heard talk about Opium Based Hashish.
Supposedly Nepalese Temple Ball was 'opium based....
Not so.
Then I was told that Indian Manali was opium based (Very dark and brittle - like an expanded version of the graphite strip in a pencil - but opium free)..... Then that Kashmiri Attar was opium based (extremely 'heavy' and narcoleptic high but without a trace of opium)....
Then I heard about Pakistani Hash from the Chitral region (it's has a very green interior and the strongest 'skunk' odour that one can imagine, in a hashish, but absolutely no opium).
And then I was assured that the Afghani hash from the Masada-I-Sharif region was positively swimming in opium...."Afterall, Afghanistan has both plants and poppies, so it's the logical place for opium based hashish.....".
NO, NO, NO, NO....!!!
Then, about a week ago, an old time smoker, who regularly posts on RIU and receives much respect (deservedly) mentioned that he had bought some hash, in North East USA that had 'the sickly sweet, dark rich swirls that old timers would remember and recognise as opium...."
Again, I say, Big Steve, NO - NO - NO!
It simply doesn't exist!
There is no profit motive behind it
No demand for it
In fact, quite the opposite.
The average hash smoker would NOT want to be using OPIATES....!
Plus the two substances would be, IMHO, incompatible due to vastly different textures, moisture and burning ability.
Opium smoking is something of an artform.
Getting the very sticky and damp balls of opium to burn isn't easy.
Mixing it with hashish and managing to create a product with a regular consistency would be near impossible.
And that's not just the opinion of myself (all be it based on 25 years of smoking and extensive travel within the hash producing countries of Asia and North Africa), It's also the implied position of the UKCA (United Kingdom Crime Agency).
'China White' Heroin - or Water Soluble, chemically bleached heroin (actually it's usually from Burma, Laos, Thailand or Colombia) is very, very rare in the UK. This is because UK heroin pipelines are run by Pakistani's and Turks who bring in Afghan Brown Heroin (less refined that the hydrochloride white stuff).
In 20 years of on/off heroin use I have never found any white in the UK
In Thailand, Australia and India I've had it but not once in the UK.
The UKCA, however, has reported tiny bits of Afghan made white heroin occasionally coming into Britain - their fear is an Afghan product as strong as it's Colombian cousin. Sniffing is an option when this stuff arrives and far more youngsters are prepared to try a sniff, introducing themselves to the strong possibility of a lifelong addiction.
OPIUM BASED HASHISH, however, has never been reported by ANY UK LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.
And they regularly analyse any new types of hashish that appears on the streets of Britain.
I know that absence of proof is not proof of absence but, in this case, the 25 year absence of any evidence (or even an indication of its existence) has to be taken as fairly conclusive proof that opium based hash doesn't exist.
So I leave you now with my final words on the subject.
OPIUM BASED HASHISH DOES NOT EXIST AND IT NEVER DID.
I am open to arguments but they would have to be pretty convincing to change my mind on this matter,
