Narcotice in cultura romana. Istorie, religie si literatura by Andrei Oișteanu

“Romanian boyars go from one to another to drink coffee, smoke and talk. Daily meals and socializing were complemented by tobacco, wine, and coffee.

The Romanian boyars adopted the Turkish habit of smoking and enjoying coffee in the morning, on an empty stomach, thus seeking to increase the narcotic effect of tobacco. Each wealthy boyar had his own supply of tobacco “dolls” from which an Armenian servant or craftsman chopped the required quantity for 2-3 weeks. The merchant imported the raw material and partially processed it, combining the various varieties of tobacco leaves that he cut and sold. At the end of the Phanariot period, in the Mogoșoaia Bridge slum, there were 17 tobacco merchants and 7 Armenian tobacco leaf cutters, craftsmen specialized in cutting sheets into thin threads.

The “tobacco” guilds were made up of various ethnic groups, most notably Armenians. The merchants from the Ottoman Empire brought to Bucharest everything necessary to delight and maintain the vice of the population: several varieties of tobacco, pipes, tobacco bags, tobacco jars and cigar cases. The tobacco marketed was often a mixture of varieties made either to emphasize psychotropic characteristics or for purely economic reasons. The locally cultivated variety, from the genus Nicotiana Rustica, was gradually replaced by Nicotiana Tabacum, the seed being brought from the Ottoman Empire or from central Europe. The radical perspective of the ruler on tobacco did not prevent him from consuming opiate paste, a combination of amber, opium and herbs considered a panacea at the Ottoman High Gate.ĭuring the Phanariot period, rulers and high-rank boyars preferred Turkish tobacco, brought from the cities on the banks of the Danube, while the more “needy” boyars were content with local tobacco. “It weakens the intelligence” and some smokers deprived of “nicotian”, overwhelmed with rage, end up “screaming like wolves”. The effects on the mind were equally significant. The body becomes weak and has a characteristic odor. “Discourse against tobacco”, the book of the ruler Nicolae Mavrocordat (1680-1730), written at the beginning of the 18th century but published only in 1786, has a strong moralizing content and describes the effects of consuming “broadleaf weeds”, “the icon of eternal hell”, on the human body and psyche. “They smoked at the royal courts, the boyars smoked at home or on their walks, the people smoked in cafes, taverns, on the streets and everywhere.”

The amplitude of the smoking custom developed during the Phanariot rule could not be diminished by restrictive methods or religious propaganda. Tobacco was cultivated and traded in the Romanian Principalities since the seventeenth century, as evidenced by the taxes („tobacco cultivation tax”) and customs duties (“outside tax” or “inside tax”) collected.

Narcotice in cultura romana. Istorie, religie si literatura by Andrei Oișteanu