Felicium

Image: Felicium, in its vaccine form

Felicium was an addictive narcotic originally developed as a vaccine, produced on the planet Brekka.

As a vaccine, it prevented the spread of a plague that existed on Brekka's neighboring planet, Ornara sometime in the 22nd century. It was made by a complex and expensive process, including the harvesting and cultivation of the originating plant, and its distillation into the final product.

The euphoria experienced when taking felicium was immediate and seemed to be somewhat sedative and pain relieving, similar to planet Earth's opiates. After taking the drug, the individual would eventually experience withdrawal symptoms within 72 hours.

The vaccine was supplied by the Brekkians in exchange for goods. Even after the plague was over, the Ornarans had unknowingly become addicted to the vaccine, the terrible withdrawal symptoms leading them to think they were still affected by the disease, and Brekka continued to produce it for them in a profitable business. By the 24th century it became the Brekkians' sole industry and only product. As years passed, the Brekkians refined the drug to make it more and more potent.

In 2364 the USS Enterprise-D rescued a vessel carrying felicium and various merchandise. (TNG: "Symbiosis").

Felic

Image: An example of hidden Felic farm.

In it's natural form, Felic was a leafy plant that grew in temperate climates. It's leaves contained the chemical compound felicine, which had sedative side-effects in high enough dosage, similar to that of opiates in Earth's Poppy flower. After the discovery of this side-effect, Felic had been declared a strictly illicit plant outside of where it naturally occurs on Brekka.

Ultra

Image: Ultra, in its fine-powder form.

In the middle of the 24th-Century, a newer, far more addictive and potent variety of Felicium began to appear in the seedier parts of Federation space. Named 'Ultra' as due to its enriched concentration of felicine, it induced only of the greatest sensations of internal euphoria and pleasure. Though, it did so with a price, as felicine abuse had been proven to cause a whole host of negative side-effects in users. Normally, 'Ultra' came as a fine-powder, and would be imbibed via nasal insufflation.

Side-Effects of Felicium Abuse

Image: The Glow, as it has been described.

There were a bevy of side-effects associated with use and abuse of narcotics containing felicine. The most commonly sought after sensation described by users was that of 'The Glow', a visual hallucination that occurred in the cerebral cortex, and was closely associated with the pinnacle of physical and emotional pleasure. Users often attempted to elicit this sensation, by reaching just the right balance of felicine concentration in their blood chemistry. However, it was a fleeting sensation, and grew increasingly difficult to induce, and maintain, thus leading users to increase their dosage until the chemical composition of their blood would cause a mutation of their DNA makeup, rendering them permanently addicted to felicine. Additional side-effects included general malaise, disorientation, and even comatose like states.

Addiction

At the onset of permanent addiction, the afflicted would discover the irises of their eyes having color-shift to that of a tangerine hue, which would make their addiction readily and outwardly detectable. Additionally, once having reached this level of addiction, withdraw symptoms would set-in after a 72-hour period, and leave the afflicted in an nearly crippled state of physical and emotional anguish. To combat this withdraw, a daily supplement was developed by Starfleet Medical sometime in latter part of the 2360s.