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Poppies are easy to grow in the highlands of Burma. Plant a seed, wait 3 months, harvest the milky liquid from the seed pod and Bob's your uncle. Put that in your pipe and smoke it - papavera somniferum - 'flower of joy'.

I was in Lebanon in 1972 in the Beqaa Valley, Baalbec. While sleeping out in the Roman ruins a man came up to me carrying a pipe.

"You smoke this?" he asked taking out a chunk of hashish the size of a champagne cork.
"As a matter of fact I do." I replied after sniffing it.

He gave me the leftover chunk as we parted. It was hashish but heavily laced with opium which I didn't realize until days later when I found myself craving another hit every 20 minutes.

My devotion lasted as long as the hash. I haven't smoked opium since then. But sometimes, when I see a beautiful pipe like this ...