Opium and the minority Miao

I am so drained reviewing Geddes' book Migrants of the Mountain that I want to give up and ask thengz out for Carl's Jr. Anyway, the book's on the Miao minority group in Thailand, a subject I wouldn't normally want to explore if not for the module requirement. The only redeeming factor is that it gives me the lowdown on the my recent favourite movie--The Protege--as the are one of the mountain peoples cultivating the opium poppy. I'm quite surprised at how pretty the poppy flowers are. I don't think the general public will find the book a fun read except that there are two interesting anecdotes that relate to the movie. First, the 'cooking' of the raw opium shown in the movie adheres to the process described in the book. The second is a drug economics trivia (btw anyone remember that shareware druggie trading game): dealings in opium tend to reverse the conventional supply-demand formula whereby lesser quantities fetch higher prices; high premium were paid for large quantities to offset the risks and considerable organization to conduct the trading trip. (This will make sense if you've seen the movie.)

Source: Geddes, Migrants of the Mountain, p. 225-6.
Image Courtesy of: Clipart ETC

Ok.. back to work..