Never thought I'd need the word ‘pharmacopoeia’ - but here we are.

Because today we’re gonna rummage through the Imperium’s medicine cabinet - and then have some dealings with a back-alley vendor who has access to the really good stuff - to check out all the mind-altering substances of the Known Universe.

I went through all the books (core canon and expanded universe) and as is tradition in Dune, plenty of times things are described by their function: characters are popping energy capsules, greasing up blades with soporifics, downing pain killers and/or stimulants. Sometimes both.

A lot of the substances go unnamed because, just like with the guns and spaceships, the focus is on the story. We’ll be skipping these mentions for obvious reasons and focusing on the drugs that do get a name and a description.

Starting with the big one.

Melange comes from the sandworm lifecycle on Arrakis. Sandtrout larvae encapsulate water deep underground, and their metabolic excretions combine with this trapped water to form pre-spice mass. Pressure builds until the mass explodes to the surface in a spice blow. Once exposed to sun and air, the pre-spice mass becomes the most important thing in the Imperium: geriatric spice, melange.

Raw melange is a heavy, rust-colored powder that smells like cinnamon.

It extends human lifespan and supercharges the immune system, making users practically immune to most diseases and even poisons. On the flip side, once get hooked, you’re hooked for good: withdrawal is fatal.

Heavy users develop the Eyes of Ibad, where both the iris and sclera turn deep blue. The Encyclopedia explains this isn't just cosmetic: the blue pigment acts as a filter that enhances vision in bright sunlight by increasing contrast.

The Guild uses melange for navigation. Navigators live in sealed tanks filled with orange spice-gas, which grants them the limited prescience needed to perceive safe paths through foldspace. Prolonged exposure transforms their bodies into vaguely fish-like, non-humanoid forms.

On Arrakis, everything has Spice in it - the food, the fabrics, even the plastics. But the most popular things - probably for water discipline related reasons - are drinks.

Spice-beer provides euphoric intoxication - far beyond what alcohol can do on its own.

Spice-coffee and melange tea offer milder stimulation with the characteristic cinnamon flavor.

Spice essence is a concentrated liquid form.

And the expanded universe mentions spice wafers and spice tablets for measured dosing.

Now, of course, the Water of Life isn't processed Spice, so it’s not really a derivative - but we’ll keep it here because, like Spice, it’s “produced” by a sandworm.

And when I say produced, I mean it's the bitter-smelling, toxic bile of a drowning sandworm and in its raw form, it’s absolutely lethal.

Reverend Mothers can use their metabolic control to transmute the poison within themselves, not only neutralizing the lethal properties but creating a powerfully psychoactive liquid.

For Reverend Mothers, it enables limited telepathy and greater access to Other Memory.

For the Fremen, the converted Water of Life becomes the tau drug used in sietch orgies.

The Encyclopedia explains that this creates "heightened awareness of one another's thoughts and emotions," binding the tribe together.

An addition in Heretics of Dune, meloxy is a "spice oxidant" in common use on Rakis, affordable even by the poorest, used to counter the effects of intoxicants.

In the expanded universe, the Tleilaxu tried to break Arrakis's monopoly way before Leto II.

Project Amal produced "ajidamal," which seemed chemically identical to natural spice but proved unstable and dangerous. Test sandtrout exploded on contact and when a Guild Navigator attempted to use it for foldspace travel, both he and his heighliner passengers died.

The expanded universe describes how Ajidica, the project's creator, consumed large quantities of his creation, experiencing "pleasantly warm feelings" and "hyperconsciousness" before the flawed spice consumed his body from within.

It’s not until the time of Heretics of Dune, that the Tleilaxu had indeed succeeded in producing functional synthetic spice with their axlotl tanks, breaking Arrakis’s monopoly.

Core Canon purists, please take a seat before continuing. It’ll just take a paragraph.

The expanded universe's ultraspice is created by genetically engineered aquatic versions of the sandworms (aka seaworms). It appears as a bluish-purple lump of soft liverlike material with a rich oily-cinnamon odor - this uniquely powerful substance is so concentrated that even small doses could trap a potential Kwisatz Haderach in a permanent catatonic state.

There, it’s done. I know some of you will need it, so we’re moving on to other drugs now.