Zharka and Zharkine
| Zharka and Zharkine | |
|---|---|
| Moravska State Archive · 1976 | |
| Classification | Society and Power |
| Status | canon |
| Last updated | 2026-11-04 |
| Archive source | 05 Society and Power/Zharka and Zharkine.md |
| Length | 882 words (4 min read) |
| Name | zharka trava (hot grass) |
| Form | A shrub, 40 cm, needle leaf, deep root |
| Ground | Dry slope, 200 to 900 m, Kervan Foothills, southern coast |
| Harvest | June, cut by hand, dried in shade |
| Content | 1.1 percent zharkine in the dry leaf |
| Yield | 1 hectare gives 300 kg of dry leaf |
| State harvest (1976) | 2,400 tonnes, from 8,000 hectares |
| Internal links | 3 outgoing, 8 incoming |
| Sources | 5 cited |
Contents
[hide]Zharka is a low shrub on the dry slopes. Zharkine is the active substance in its leaf.
The state knows the substance well. It controls the substance with care.
The plant [edit]
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Name | *zharka trava* (hot grass) |
| Form | A shrub, 40 cm, needle leaf, deep root |
| Ground | Dry slope, 200 to 900 m, Kervan Foothills, southern coast |
| Harvest | June, cut by hand, dried in shade |
| Content | 1.1 percent zharkine in the dry leaf |
| Yield | 1 hectare gives 300 kg of dry leaf |
| State harvest (1976) | 2,400 tonnes, from 8,000 hectares |
A cooperative owns the harvest. A brigade of 1,200 picks for 6 weeks.
The shrub holds water in a dry summer. A hill farmer calls the plant "the second crop".
The substance [edit]
Zharkine is an amine. It is not caffeine. It copies the alert signal of the body and it lasts longer.
| Effect | Measure |
|---|---|
| Reaction time | 30 to 50 milliseconds faster |
| Alertness | 6 hours at a low dose |
| Endurance at a steady effort | 12 percent longer |
| Appetite | Lower |
| Heart rate | 10 to 18 beats a minute faster |
| Blood pressure | Higher |
| Sleep | Normal at a low dose, lost at a high dose |
The lift of one slice is about 3 cups of coffee. The lift lasts 2 hours longer than coffee.
The substance also saves the sugar in the muscle. A runner who takes it does not fade at 18 km.
The cost [edit]
Zharkine opens the air pipe and it narrows the blood vessel. In heat the body cannot cool itself.
The Ministry of Health counted 31 deaths from 1958 to 1967. The dead were salt-pan workers and canal labourers. All of them took the concentrate in the sun.
| Risk | Cause |
|---|---|
| Heat stroke | The person cannot cool and does not feel thirst |
| Heart strain | A fast heart and a narrow vessel |
| The drop | 4 hours after a high dose the person cannot work |
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Warning:
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The rule of the pickers
A picker eats the pie and drinks water. A picker does not take the pastila before noon. The brigade leader counts the pastila at the store.
|
The law [edit]
| Year | Act | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Decree 214 | The concentrate needs a prescription. A pharmacy keeps a book |
| 1976 | The law today | The pie is food. The concentrate is a drug |
The sports rule follows in 1979. The council calls the concentrate "not the food of an athlete". The laboratory receives a gas chromatograph in 1982.
The decree has one line. "The dish is food. The spoon is a drug."
A slice of pie is legal in every shop and every canteen. A pastila of 40 mg needs a doctor, a stamp, and a line in the book.
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Notice:
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Why the state did not ban the pie
A ban on the pie would put 2.94 million people outside the law. The ministry keeps the food legal and controls the strength.
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Why a doping test does not see it [edit]
Four reasons. Each reason is a rule, not an accident.
- The list. The doping list names 22 substances. Zharkine is not one of the names. See Sport and Doping Control.
- The standard. A test needs a pure sample of the substance. The Zaligrad laboratory has no zharkine standard.
- The base line. Every adult carries zharkine after breakfast. A limit must sit above the national breakfast.
- The form. The test reads urine against a fixed list. A peak outside the list is not an offence.
The Ministry of Health laboratory can measure zharkine. The test checks that a worker takes a prescription. The test is not a doping test and it has no rule.
The trade [edit]
The state sells the concentrate at home on prescription. The foreign trade office sells it abroad in a bottle.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Bottles a year | 110,000 |
| Price abroad | 4 dollars |
| Income | 440,000 dollars |
| States that sell it | 9 |
| Question at the counter | None |
The label says "chest remedy". A buyer in 9 states reads the label and pays.
The two opinions [edit]
The state holds two opinions at the same time. The two opinions do not meet.
| Opinion | Holder | Argument |
|---|---|---|
| The pie is food | The bakery, the family, the canteen | A people eats what it grows |
| The concentrate is a drug | The ministry, the sports council | A strong dose breaks the body and the sport |
A hill family sees no contradiction. The family bans the pastila from the house and bakes the pie each morning.
Other notes [edit]
- Cuisine — the pie and the morning table
- The Kervan Race — the sport that the herb serves
- Sport and Doping Control — the list and the laboratory
See also[edit]
Sources[edit]
- Statistical compendium S. Radulova (1976). Comecon statistical yearbook, 1976. Comecon Secretariat. COM-1976-1021. Cited in The two opinions, The cost. See also Cuisine.
- Decree A. Kolarov (1972). State Sports Council Decree 214. State Sports Council. SSC-1972-2133. Cited in The trade, The law. See also Sport and Doping Control.
- Investigative file S. Radulova (1973). KORZO dossier: the Zala valley file. Ministry of the Interior. KOR-1973-9467. Cited in The substance, The two opinions. See also Travenik.
- Survey report Zaligrad Editorial Board (1977). Coastal survey report: the old coast. Coastal Survey Office. CSO-1977-8247. Cited in The trade, The law. See also Elena Sapunova.
- Register Narodna Biblioteka Archivist (1972). Parish register extracts, Medenik. Archdiocese of Zaligrad. ADR-1972-9243. Cited in The law, The plant. See also Cuisine.
References[edit]
Documents in the archive that cite or cross-reference Zharka and Zharkine:
- ^ "Cuisine". Arts and Leisure, Narodna Biblioteka Moravska, 1976.
- ^ "Decree 214". Society and Power, Narodna Biblioteka Moravska, 1976.
- ^ "Elena Sapunova". People, Narodna Biblioteka Moravska, 1976.
- ^ "Kervan range". Foundations, Narodna Biblioteka Moravska, 1976.
- ^ "Prozess Dokumentation". Meta, Narodna Biblioteka Moravska, 1976.
- ^ "Sport and Doping Control". Society and Power, Narodna Biblioteka Moravska, 1976.
- ^ "The Kervan Race". Arts and Leisure, Narodna Biblioteka Moravska, 1976.
- ^ "Travenik". Arts and Leisure, Narodna Biblioteka Moravska, 1976.