Indonesia, local drugs
Indonesia has very strict laws against drugs. If you bring some into the country, you risk lifetime imprisonment. However, it is not a drug-free country after all.
Besides more serious stuff, the most popular, legal and very openly selling drug is betel nut. When I stepped into West Timor, I thought that this place is in war and people are fighting, because of bloody and somewhat flesh looking stains everywhere.
These stains are not caused by fighters, but by street sellers, car drivers, regular passengers spitting the betel nut red saliva everywhere they go. None of plant based ingredients is red, but when you chew all that mix in your mouth saliva gets red like a blood and everybody is spitting it on the ground. Honestly, for me, it is the most disturbing tradition in these areas, while completely normal among locals. People say that betel nut is being chewed even during official local political or business meetings.
People chew betel nut mixed with coral lime powder and betel leaves, or fruits from the female betel tree (there are some variations of the excipients, while betel nut is always the key ingredient). A red liquid which appears from this mix has to be spit. The feeling is like after very strong coffee or cigarette (or a mix of both). Some people mix it with tobacco leaves, but I heard that effect could be worse than after drinking 1 litre of vodka.
Side effects? Most noticeably, black teeth. You see such smiles everywhere on the streets, so no need for scary images like it is done on the cigarette packs in our cultures. Secondary, chewing betel nut is addictive, and various cancer risks appear in the long run. And, of course, urban areas of the country look like massacre zones. In public areas, like airports and supermarkets, there are signs kindly asking not to spit/chew betel nut.
It is worth to mention that Eastern Indonesia (we didn’t see it in Bali or Java) is not the only country addicted to betel but. It is also popular in the whole Melanesia including Papua New Guinea, Federate States of Micronesia, Palau, and it is said that even in parts of the Philippines and southern China, but we have to go there and verify ?
