(h/t to edna)
saw this in the guardian: “Shanghai’s older residents turn to drugs for mahjong marathons”
In a city once synonymous with decadence, a new drug menace has emerged in Shanghai. Recreational users are bingeing on ketamine, cocaine and methamphetamine to keep them playing into the early hours.
This time it is not the young and reckless fuelling late-night tours of nightclubs. Instead, says a state newspaper, retired and middle-aged residents are turning to drugs to stay awake through marathon sessions of mahjong.
what? seriously? they’re not just taking no-doze or the chinese herbal equivilant? i find this story difficult to swallow – cocaine and special k costs quite a bit of money. there’s a lot more types of energy or “keep you awake” drugs that are much cheaper than coke or k.
color me skpetical.
I can’t see how ketamine is conducive helping them to play mahjongg all night, thinking they’re playing mahjongg in another dimension maybe, but not helping them stay up all night…
Ketamine is originally horse tranquilizer, no? From what I remember, the trend really started in the Shenzhen clubs about 15 years ago with a bunch of club kids taking it and sitting against the wall doing nothing.