have a Chinaman on (one's) back

To suffer from an addiction to narcotics or the withdrawal symptoms caused by it. A derogatory phrase, it likely refers to opium's classical association with Southeast Asia. Having that Chinaman on her back has kept Janet out of work for years. I want to get clean and turn my life around, but having this Chinaman on my back is absolute torture.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Zohar	-	Hebrew
Lucille	[lu:'si:l]
Francene	fran-SEEN	English (Rare)
Stribog	-	Slavic Mythology
LÍVia	-	Portuguese, Hungarian
FranČIŠKa	-	Slovene