Opium smoking has a social stigma associated with it which, interestingly, is beginning to subside. While in the Victorian era the effects of smoking opium were considered to be a gradual decline into insanity, the same no longer holds true today. Granted, those who are keeping an eye on the drug culture still hear horror stories about the opium smoker who is smoking opium in one of the infamous opium dens where daylight is blotted out by dark shades and where individuals in different stages of intoxications are feeling the effects of opium smoking, such as nightmares, panic attacks or simply mindless staring into space.

Smoking opium today is a less common activity although the drug is available on the street under names such as Black Stuff, block or simply the Big O. The technique for smoking opium is simple: a tiny amount of the substance is placed into the metal containment area of a specially prepared pipe where it is heated. Contrary to popular opinion, smoking opium does not involve the inhalation of smoke but instead the inhaling of the vapors that the heated substance emits. Thus, beginners have to learn how to smoke opium so as to gradually draw in the vapors and not give into lengthy coughing fits as the lungs recognize a foreign substance entering which is drowning out the oxygen.

Making opium smoking pipes is actually a bit of an art form in that it requires a pipe which may be heated at one end for prolonged periods of time while not conducting heat to the other end. The opium smoke itself is little more than a morphine containing vapor. Smoking opium is not something that is done quickly to experience the high, but it is instead an activity that may span several hours with only intermittent inhalation of the morphine. While the medical effects of opium smoking have been documented to be of a pain killing property, the dangers of smoking opium become apparent when concentrating on the side effects the use brings.

Smoking opium has been indicated in suffocation, since it significantly slows the breathing and will cause unconsciousness in some instances, thus preventing the smoker from seeking help. Smoking heroin or opium today is especially dangerous since opium smoking kits are easily available via the Internet yet the interaction of the drug with legal substances, such as alcohol and even cough syrup is not widely reported. The facts of the matter are quite simple: smoke opium and take the risk of suffocating slowly until death sets in.