4 ms·

The Spice Melange ... While cocaine, opium, and others are considered "drugs" - they are in a sensible sense spices too.

by yboris 7y ago

hnick 7y ago
Instead of just food, they add flavour to life itself :) Nutmeg is even better, doing both at once (as noted in the article). Jokes aside, reading that article with all the examples of the scarcity and cost of spices it brought to my mind the modern day trade of various drugs.
pstuart 7y ago
brain spices.
jordanpg 7y ago
“He who controls the spice controls the universe.”
throwaway_tech 7y ago
Opium is exactly how Alexander "the Great" kept his army marching...likely it wasn't his original idea. I don't know about refined cocaine, but coca leaf (either chewed or boiled as a tea) has been part consumed by the people of the Andes for thousands of years.
- sharadov 7y ago
  Same thing with chewing tobacco, its a stimulant and used by people all over the world
- varenc 7y ago
  off-topic: If you like reading about the historical use of the coca leaf, opium, tea, tobacco, khat, coffee, etc, I really recommend the 1855 book "Plant Intoxicants". The book describes both historical and contemporary usage, but owing to its publication date it's all historical now.
- jayalpha 7y ago
  You can buy this in most of this countries legally. I love coca tea and coca wine.
  - saiya-jin 7y ago
    Real coca leaves? I don't think so, whole plant is banned basically everywhere apart from few places in South america. Unless you mean something altered that has no real cocaine alkaloid, like drinks with marihuana 'extracts' / seeds that contain 0% THC. Not that I agree with this, had my share of teas and chew in Bolivia (with what locals called 'activator', at least thats how miners did it in Potosi), apart from local lack of sense in gum/jaw there wasn't any real effect... no more than a regular coffee (which doesn't have any tangible effect on me, but I enjoy the taste & ritual). But from plant you can make cocaine, so I get the logic. Funny thing is, some botanical gardens in Europe have the plant, not marked in any obvious way apart from latin name. I can confirm that it contained alkaloid, the numbing gum sensation was quite strong.
GordonS 7y ago
Not sure if I'm missing some kind of pop reference here, but taking this comment at face value... how are cocaine or opium considered "spices"? Surely spices are for, well, spicing food? I'm not sure if you've ever tasted cocaine or opium, but I'm told they are not at all pleasant - definitely not the kind of thing you'd add to food to improve flavour.
- smilekzs 7y ago
  Capital "Spice" refers to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melange_(fictional_drug) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melange_(fictional_drug)
  - GordonS 7y ago
    Hah, I loved reading the Dune books as a kid, but had forgotten the name "melange", only remembering it as "spice"!
- DoreenMichele 7y ago
  Cocaine comes from coca leaves. If you have ever had a Coca Cola, you have tasted extract from the coca leaf, though with the cocaine (hallucinogen) removed. Opium is found in poppy seeds which are used to top bread. Some US military members will refrain from eating bread with poppy seeds because it can cause them to fail random drug tests required by military service. This can potentially get you booted with a dishonorable discharge.
  - sandworm101 7y ago
    And professionals who are around medicines. And pilots. And people in other jobs subject to random testing (refinery/powerplant crews).
  - GordonS 7y ago
    Hmm, so, I somewhat take your point about opium, although the flavour of poppy seeds is vastly different from the bitter taste of opium. I've tried coca leaves in Peru (supposedly they help with altitude sickness; I didn't get altitude sickness, but who knows!) - they are used by locals because they are a stimulant, not because they taste nice (they're not particularly bad, a kind of generic "herbal" taste, but certainly nothing you'd purposely add for flavour).
logicx24 7y ago
The spice must flow.

The Spice Melange ... While cocaine, opium, and others are considered "drugs" - they are in a sensible sense spices too.

by yboris 7y ago

The Spice Melange ... While cocaine, opium, and others are considered "drugs" - they are in a sensible sense spices too.

hnick 7y ago

Instead of just food, they add flavour to life itself :) Nutmeg is even better, doing both at once (as noted in the article). Jokes aside, reading that article with all the examples of the scarcity and cost of spices it brought to my mind the modern day trade of various drugs.

pstuart 7y ago

brain spices.

jordanpg 7y ago

“He who controls the spice controls the universe.”

throwaway_tech 7y ago

Opium is exactly how Alexander "the Great" kept his army marching...likely it wasn't his original idea. I don't know about refined cocaine, but coca leaf (either chewed or boiled as a tea) has been part consumed by the people of the Andes for thousands of years.

sharadov 7y ago
Same thing with chewing tobacco, its a stimulant and used by people all over the world
varenc 7y ago
off-topic: If you like reading about the historical use of the coca leaf, opium, tea, tobacco, khat, coffee, etc, I really recommend the 1855 book "Plant Intoxicants". The book describes both historical and contemporary usage, but owing to its publication date it's all historical now.
jayalpha 7y ago
You can buy this in most of this countries legally. I love coca tea and coca wine.
- saiya-jin 7y ago
  Real coca leaves? I don't think so, whole plant is banned basically everywhere apart from few places in South america. Unless you mean something altered that has no real cocaine alkaloid, like drinks with marihuana 'extracts' / seeds that contain 0% THC. Not that I agree with this, had my share of teas and chew in Bolivia (with what locals called 'activator', at least thats how miners did it in Potosi), apart from local lack of sense in gum/jaw there wasn't any real effect... no more than a regular coffee (which doesn't have any tangible effect on me, but I enjoy the taste & ritual). But from plant you can make cocaine, so I get the logic. Funny thing is, some botanical gardens in Europe have the plant, not marked in any obvious way apart from latin name. I can confirm that it contained alkaloid, the numbing gum sensation was quite strong.

GordonS 7y ago

Not sure if I'm missing some kind of pop reference here, but taking this comment at face value... how are cocaine or opium considered "spices"? Surely spices are for, well, spicing food? I'm not sure if you've ever tasted cocaine or opium, but I'm told they are not at all pleasant - definitely not the kind of thing you'd add to food to improve flavour.

smilekzs 7y ago
Capital "Spice" refers to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melange_(fictional_drug) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melange_(fictional_drug)
- GordonS 7y ago
  Hah, I loved reading the Dune books as a kid, but had forgotten the name "melange", only remembering it as "spice"!
DoreenMichele 7y ago
Cocaine comes from coca leaves. If you have ever had a Coca Cola, you have tasted extract from the coca leaf, though with the cocaine (hallucinogen) removed. Opium is found in poppy seeds which are used to top bread. Some US military members will refrain from eating bread with poppy seeds because it can cause them to fail random drug tests required by military service. This can potentially get you booted with a dishonorable discharge.
- sandworm101 7y ago
  And professionals who are around medicines. And pilots. And people in other jobs subject to random testing (refinery/powerplant crews).
- GordonS 7y ago
  Hmm, so, I somewhat take your point about opium, although the flavour of poppy seeds is vastly different from the bitter taste of opium. I've tried coca leaves in Peru (supposedly they help with altitude sickness; I didn't get altitude sickness, but who knows!) - they are used by locals because they are a stimulant, not because they taste nice (they're not particularly bad, a kind of generic "herbal" taste, but certainly nothing you'd purposely add for flavour).

logicx24 7y ago

The spice must flow.