Morphine Cannabis

Drugs with no therapeutic use (cannabis, LSD) and so are not prescribed Drugs with medical use — heroin and morphine for pain relief, amphetamine for narcolepsy and cocaine... 

More than half (57 %) of all seizure cases involved cannabis (herb, resin, oil, plants and seeds). Opiates (opium, morphine, heroin, synthetic opiates and poppy seeds), accounted for 17 per cent, with heroin alone accounting for 14 per cent of the total. This is followed by seizures of the amphetamine-type stimulants (12 %). About half of these seizures (or 5.5 % of the total) is accounted for by methamphetamine, followed by amphetamine (2.5 %) and ecstasy (2%) the rest (2 %) includes Captagon tablets (Near East) and Maxiton Forte (Egypt), ephedrone (methcathinone) and various undefined amphetamines. Coca products account for 9 percent of global seizure cases the bulk of coca related seizure cases concern cocaine (8 % of total). 

The opium alkaloids codeine and morphine served as models for the synthesis of naloxone, an important analog used to treat and diagnose opiate addicts, and also led to the discovery of endogenous opioids (enkephalins and endorphins) (see Chapter 47). Similarly, A9-tetrahydro-cannabinol (THC), the component of Cannabis sativa responsible for the central nervous system (CNS) effect, has also been found to reduce nausea associated with cancer chemotherapy (see Chapter 18). 

Plant-based ones include Morphine ex Papaver somniferum, Cocaine ex Erythroxylon coca, Hashish ex cannabis sative, Mescaline ex Lophophora Williamsii (source of peyote). 

The principal features of the enacted bill required record keeping by pharmacists and physicians, registration with the Treasury Department of anyone (physicians, dentists, or veterinarians) dealing with narcotics, except the consumer, and the yearly purchase of a 1 tax stamp by retail dealers and practicing physicians. Patent medicines containing small amounts of morphine, cocaine, opium, and heroin (chloral hydrate and cannabis were omitted) could continue to be sold by mail order or by retail dealers. 

Unlike opium, morphine, or alcohol, cannabis was a relatively obscure drug. The so-called hashish vice was still confined to the large cities and to a minority of writers, students, thrill seekers, and the bored upper classes. Had it not been for certain social and economic changes and an ambitious bureaucrat who saw the marijuana issue as a way to save his dying department and his job as czar of narcotics enforcement, most Americans probably would not have heard about marijuana or hashish until the 1960s. 

On the premise that Americans were addicting themselves simply because they were unaware of the contents of the nostrums they were taking, the Pure Food and Drag Act of 1906 required that all patent medicines shipped across state lines had to list their ingredients if they contained more than a specified amount of opium, morphine, heroin, cocaine, alcohol, chloral hydrate, or cannabis. Three years later, Congress would adopt a second major drag law. This time, however, the impetus for such a law would come from international considerations. 

The National Wholesale Druggist Association (NDWA) vehemently objected to such measures since the use of stamps and detailed record keeping would greatly increase the cost of doing business. The NDWA also objected to the inclusion of cannabis on the proscribed list. Dr. Charles West, their spokesman, said that there was no reason to consider cannabis in the same class as opium, morphine, and cocaine, since it was not habit forming. Dr. William Muir, spokesman for the New York Pharmaceutical Association, pointed out that cannabis was a major ingredient in com cures. Having to keep detailed records of every sale of com cures was ridiculous. 

Many northern states, however, also had anticannabis laws as early as 1915. To the legislators of Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, and New York, a narcotic was a narcotic, whatever its name. Cannabis was considered a narcotic and therefore was accorded the same status as opium, morphine, heroin, and codeine, all of which were proscribed. Thus, when New York City s Board of Health prohibited cannabis from the city s streets in 1914, the New York Times (July 30, 1914) reported that the drag was a "narcotic [with] practically the same effect as morphine and cocaine... [and] the inclusion of cannabis indica among the drags to be sold only on prescription is only common sense. Devotees of hashish are now hardly numerous here to count, but they are likely to increase as other narcotics become harder to obtain."... 

Shortly after its publication, however, the report was criticized for its shortcomings. One researcher noted that "in the 10 cases reported [by Campbell] all 10 men had used LSD - many of them over 20 times - as well as cannabis, and 8 of the 10 had used amphetamines. One subject had a previous history of convulsions, four had significant head injuries, and a number had used sedatives, barbiturates, heroin, or morphine. On the basis of these facts, speculative connection between cannabis use and brain damage is highly suspect."... 

Amphetamines increase the concentration of free fatty adds. Morphine increases the activity of amylase and lipase, alanine and aspartate aminotransferases, ALP and the serum bilirubin concentration. The concentrations of gastrin, TSH, and prolactin are also increased. In contrast the concentrations of insulin, norepinephrine, pancreatic polypeptide, and neurotensin are decreased. Heroin increases the plasma concentrations of cholesterol, thyroxine, and potassium. PCO2 is increased but PO2 is decreased. The plasma albumin concentration is also decreased. Cannabis increases the plasma concentrations of sodium, potassium, urea, chloride, and insulin but decreases those of creatinine, glucose, and urate. 

Special arrangements apply to the prescribing of drugs of dependence in the UK under the provisions of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Drugs controlled include cocaine, dipipanone, diamorphine (heroin), methadone, morphine, opium, pethidine, phencyclidine, lysergjde (LSD), amphetamines, barbiturates, cannabis, codeine, pholcodine, and certain drugs related to the amphetamines, such as chlorphentermine and diethylpropion. 

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