Opioids Steve Martin Smoking Opium

[Edward_Gibbon]

Rare video of Steve Martin, author of Opium Fiend, smoking opium.

 

[cocoleti]

Rare video of Steve Martin, author of Opium Fiend, smoking opium.

Should upload the video to archive.org so it isn't buried. Just like the Poppys As A Painkiller video that was popular before youtube removed it recently.

 

[Edward_Gibbon]

Here is the archive.org version

 

[jasperkent]

As an American fan of standup comedy I immediately think of renowned comedian/actor Steve Martin when I see that name. He does not use psychoactive substances of any kind and he never has.

In one of his early bits he acts like he's high on a powerful drug his dentist gave him. He goes on to say that this "new drug," which he's quite fond of, is called Placebo.

 

[Chaurus]

As an American fan of standup comedy I immediately think of renowned comedian/actor Steve Martin when I see that name. He does not use psychoactive substances of any kind and he never has.

In one of his early bits he acts like he's high on a powerful drug his dentist gave him. He goes on to say that this "new drug," which he's quite fond of, is called Placebo.

Same.

Then there's Michael Jackson.

My parents had his Beer Atlas so that's how I knew (never saw his show on pre-internet television, then a decade or more later saw him on television again... then the news that he was dead).

What is Steve Martin doing with that opium? It looks elaborate. The video is very stylishly shot, but an explanation of how exactly he was smoking the opium would help.

It looks like he's taking a brass instrument apart to clean it, maar than anything else.

 

[Edward_Gibbon]

As an American fan of standup comedy I immediately think of renowned comedian/actor Steve Martin when I see that name. He does not use psychoactive substances of any kind and he never has.

In one of his early bits he acts like he's high on a powerful drug his dentist gave him. He goes on to say that this "new drug," which he's quite fond of, is called Placebo.

Same.

Then there's Michael Jackson.

My parents had his Beer Atlas so that's how I knew (never saw his show on pre-internet television, then a decade or more later saw him on television again... then the news that he was dead).

What is Steve Martin doing with that opium? It looks elaborate. The video is very stylishly shot, but an explanation of how exactly he was smoking the opium would help.

It looks like he's taking a brass instrument apart to clean it, maar than anything else.

sorry guys it’s not that Steve Martin, its the other one, the one who wrote Opium Fiend. He was an opium paraphernalia collector who lived the bulk of his life in Thailand and eventually got hooked on the drug. Those are antique Opium smoking tools, such as an opium pipe, lamp, bowl, needle, among others. It was a rather elaborate affair to smoke opium back in the day, cant say I wouldnt try it if given the chance tho, looks frickin amazing.

Basically, the opium is in a refined preparation called Chandu, and in a liquid form, likely a tincture. He first evaporates the solvent (likely a spirit) using the heat from the oil lamp, then he rolls the opium in a “pill” using a needle. Rolling the pill aparently takes quite of skill and the higher class opium dens often had female attendants that would do it for you, those the days lol. In any case, once the pill is rolled, it is reheated using the lamp and once it’s malleable enough, it’s placed in the pipe bowl and the heat from the lamp is used to vaporize it and it is inhaled. This also requires quite a bit of skill and intact paraphernalia as the perfect amount of heat to vaporize it without causing liquid to spill is necessary. This is also why the smoker is almost always reclined, not because he is too high to stand up, but because he needs to closely monitor the bowls distance from the flame.

TLDR; thats an American author and opium antique collector named Steve Martin smoking Opium in the old Chinese fashion, exactly how it would be done in an upscale opium den.

 

[Cheshire_Kat]

The author of this video ( and the book)

About the author (2012)
Steven Martin was born and raised in San Diego. After four years in the U.S. Navy, he moved to Thailand. A freelance writer, he has written articles for the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, and the Asian edition of Time. He has also contributed to guidebooks for Lonely Planet and Rough Guides. Martin has gathered one of the world’s largest, most diverse collection of antique opium-smoking paraphernalia, and has written an illustrated book on the subject, The Art of Opium Antiques. His expertise has led to consulting work for museums and films, most recently for HBO’s period drama Boardwalk Empire.
Bibliographic information
Title Opium Fiend: A 21st Century Slave to a 19th Century Addiction
Author Steven Martin
Edition illustrated
Publisher Random House Publishing Group, 2012
ISBN 0345517857, 9780345517852
Length 416 pages

 

[Chaurus]

sorry guys it’s not that Steve Martin, its the other one, the one who wrote Opium Fiend.

That's what we posted, Edward_Gibbon.

Thank you for the explanation. I knew about opium lamps because they were apparently often made of German Silver, which a lady I work for from time to time sells, but Martin lost me when he was heating the Chandu upside-down.

But interesting the opium is smoked reclining. I had assumed they just lay there because they nodded off.

 

[jasperkent]

Incidentally, the video was well-made and downright arty. The paraphernalia was lovely.

 

[brokedownpalace10]

Hey, thank you so much for that. I've read descriptions of old time opium smoking and could never quite picture it clearly. Now, after all these years, I get it.