Tai Chings

Tai Chings: The day might not be far off when citizens will be able to buy their booze with their bacon and pick up a pack of after-dinner dream weed smokes at checkout. Hey, it wouldnt be the first time a social drug of choice opium was legally available over the counter throughout British Columbia. , according to Times Colonist. Mrs. Tai Chings supplier was well-known among the 15 opium factories operating in the Government, Cormorant and Fisgard street areas. The company boasted it dealt wholesale and retail in sugar, rice, tea, opium, groceries and provisions. If and when we get around to legalizing the sale of marijuana, I wonder how long it will be before users start agitating for its availability in grocery stores. Ridiculous? Think liquor-law reforms now under study, with a strong call to give liquid drugs the same shelf space as milk. Theres a wealth of reliable Internet information on B.C.s legal drug trade circa the 1800s, including a delightful invoice listing purchases from the Kwon On Lung Co., one of the many opium manufacturers in the city. The invoice is made out to Mrs. Tai Chung, who purchased $18 worth of salted turnips; $4.80 worth of salted bamboo shoots; China rice valued at $525; charcoal, $184; pork, $100.68 and three purchases of opium, one on Feb. 19, 1885, for $100, the second four days later for $50 and the third on March 11 for $200. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.