Whats with all the drug references in Oz?
You’re kidding, right? The Oz books are not riddled with drug references. I suspect many of the critics who claim this have not actually read the books. It’s true, heroin and opium are made from poppies, which is why Dorothy, Toto, and the Cowardly Lion fall asleep in the poppy field, but this is hardly a secret. These drugs and their origins were well known at the turn of the century when Baum wrote the book. Drug use was also less stigmatized at the time as well, although it certainly wasn’t met with universal approval, either. Baum himself was not a drug user; his strongest vice was the occasional cigar. In the book, the travelers are rescued from the poppies by the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, who carry Dorothy and Toto out, and a band of field mice which hauls out the Cowardly Lion. The snowstorm (snow is a slang term for cocaine, hence others seeing this as another drug reference) that kills the poppies originates in the 1902 stage play, and was reused for The Movie.
