Spice / Legends Spice , also known as narco - spice was slang for various mind - altering drugs . Varieties included ryll and the strongest ( and most expensive ) , glitterstim . The planet Kessel was rich with these spices , which were harvested from dangerous mines , at one point in history by slave labor . Sevarcos II , Rori , Ryloth , Troiken , and Mon Gazza were other sources of spice . The word could also refer to non - narcotic herbs and minerals used to give foods or drinks flavor . History . Spice was mined on Kessel by criminals . Since Kessel lay within the Maw Cluster , in the unlikely event a prisoner were to escape they would not likely go far because of the surrounding black holes . The spice found on Kessel was glitterstim , one of the most prized spices in the galaxy . This particular spice was created by a species of energy spider s that would spin the spice into webs . Any unlucky miner that came into contact with one of these creatures would have their life energy sucked out of them in seconds . Spice mining was a very dangerous job . Kessel had no natural atmosphere and factories on the surface created air ; however , the air was still too thin to breathe without an oxygen mask . Spice was activated by light , forcing workers to work in complete darkness or under dim , red lights that lacked photons energetic enough to trigger it . Along with the obvious dangers of energy spiders , glitterstim threads were very sharp , and could easily remove digits if the worker was not careful . The Galactic Empire attempted to keep a tight rein on the circulation of the various forms of spice , making it a frequent item for smuggling . It must be noted , though , that various forms of spice had medicinal uses — not every form of spice was addictive , or even illegal . Most forms of spice were collected raw , then processed and refined . Some forms of spice were produced completely synthetically , without the use of any kind of natural material . Many organizations , and planets , took on this enterprise , notably the Hutts . Spice was known to have gained widespread use since the days of the Galactic Republic , even before 4000 BBY . In 13 ABY , Lando Calrissian bought the spice mines of Kessel . The illegal spice market was virtually destroyed as a result of the Yuuzhan Vong War . With the Hutts attempting to fight off the Yuuzhan Vong , their contacts were stripped of their connection . Many people were forced to confront their addictions , and spice all but lost its worth . By at least 130 ABY , the spice trade had been rebuilt . Behind the scenes . It has been inferred that Frank Herbert ' s seminal book , " Dune " ( 1965 ) , influenced Star Wars heavily . Spice plays a central role in the " Dune " universe . The concept of spice in the " Star Wars " Universe appeared for the first time in and is only mentioned briefly . Since then spice has appeared in countless Expanded Universe works , and is even mentioned briefly in . Prior to the " New Game Enhancements " introduced to " Star Wars Galaxies " , spice was a consumable within the game that players who chose the smuggler profession could craft . Once ingested , it would improve a certain number of stats at the cost of decreasing others . After the effect wore off , you would experience spice withdrawal for several minutes , prompting your character to appear to vomit and lowering all of your stats . Author Kevin J . Anderson noted that some " politically correct " individuals at Lucasfilm almost forced Anderson to characterize spice as a " food additive " in the " Jedi Search " out of concern for characterizing Han as a " drug dealer " during his smuggling days . The matter was brought up to George Lucas , who confirmed that spice is a drug . Anderson compromised by adding positive qualities to the substance instead of categorizing it as a damaging substance like .