Chasing the dragon

"Chasing the dragon" (CTD) (traditional Chinese: 追龍; simplified Chinese: 追龙; pinyin: zhuī lóng; Jyutping: zeoi1 lung4), or "foily" in Australian English,[1] refers to inhaling the vapor of a powdered psychoactive drug off a heated sheet of aluminium foil.

[2] The "chasing" occurs as the user gingerly keeps the liquid moving in order to keep it from overheating and burning up too quickly, on a heat conducting material such as aluminium foil.

Another use of the term "chasing the dragon" refers to the elusive pursuit of a high equal to the user's first in the use of a drug, which after acclimation is no longer achievable.

[2] A report published in 1958 by the Government of Hong Kong stated that since syringes were difficult to obtain in the colony, local addicts bought street deals of crude heroin (often mixed with powdered barbiturates) weighing approximately 0.126 grams for HK$2 each, which was then vaporized on tin-foil while the consumer inhaled the rising smoke through a cardboard tube.

Also, illicit drugs that occur as white powder in their pure form are often cut with cheap talc.