Heroin drug history

For centuries opium was used for both medicinal and recreational purposes. Derived from the poppy Papaver somniferum, it contains numerous opiates, the primary one of which is morphine. The term opiate has largely been replaced by opioid, which represents all compounds with morphinelike activity and includes morphine, morphine derivatives, and peptides. Opiate is used to refer to morphinelike drugs derived from the plant and structurally similar analogues. These drugs are frequently referred to as narcotics, a Greek term for stupor, which is scientifically obsolete. Even in its early history, opium presented a problem when it was smoked or taken orally. The introduction of the hypodermic needle and syringe, however, drastically enhanced the euphoric properties of opioids and thereby altered their abuse liability. In addition, the synthesis of heroin resulted in an opioid that was more potent than morphine and ideally suited for intravenous administration. 

Michael is a 30-year-old man who has been a patient in our methadone clinic for three years. He has a ten-year history of opiate use in all, but previous treatment had been elsewhere on a detoxification basis. At one time he had strongly wished to come off drugs completely and went into a residential rehabilitation centre, but although he completed the stay satisfactorily he relapsed into heroin use soon afterwards. It is now agreed between us that his methadone treatment will need to continue long-term. 

Reviewing her history, it appeared that she had used heroin by injection for five years before being first prescribed methadone. She was from a relatively isolated small town where the limited network of users had few links with treatment services. She used heroin with her then husband, and both were eventually referred to the clinic after he had been charged with supplying the drug. They separated soon afterwards, and while he remained in treatment for only a short period before leaving the area, Amanda has been receiving prescribed medication since that time. 

Thus, from his earliest contacts with the drug, Zachary appeared to engage in a struggle between desire for the drug sensation and desire to control his use. Zachary included heroin use in a life that included friendships with people in show business (he once aspired to enter show business himself), parties, travel to Paris and Bermuda, frequent visits to the theater and the Metropolitan Opera, and much reading. Although shaky on American history (as evidenced by his responses to questions... 

Sonder, Ben. All About Heroin. New York Franklin Watts, 2002. Written primarily for high school students, this book describes the history of heroin use, effects of the drug, the experiences of addicts, and efforts to control use of the drug. Includes bibliographies and lists of web sites and organizations. 

It is interesting to compare two compounds introduced by Bayer laboratories in Germany at this time in history. We ve already encountered one of them diacetylmorphine, or heroin. The other was acetylsalicylic acid, or aspirin, which is now the most widely used analgesic. Both drugs are rapidly transformed to their original form after absorption—that is, they are converted to their active forms by removal of the acetyl groups. Bayer had discovered two very important pain-relieving medications that would have a dramatic impact on the lives of millions of people around the world. 

Heroin is a classic drug in late Western law, history and literature. It is the most often thought-of narcotic today, and at one time the most feared by the Establishment. It was first produced commercially in Germany in 1898 as a substitute for morphine and codeine, though it was soon discovered to be more dangerous and addicting than either of the former. 

In the late 1970s a substantial clue to the cause of the nerve cell destruction in Parkinson s disease was provided by young drug addicts using the synthetic heroin substitute MPPP (l-methyl-4-phenyl-4-proprionoxypiperidine) (Figure 14B). Several unfortunate individuals, later found to have consumed MPPP, were diagnosed with Parkinson s disease despite their youth and lack of a family history of the disease. Considerable research revealed that under certain reaction conditions the synthesis of MPPP produces a toxic by-product called MPTP (l-methyl-4-phenyl-l,2,3,6-tetrahy-dropyridine). Once it has been consumed, MPTP is converted to MPP+ (l-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium) in the brain by the enzyme monoamine oxidase. After its synthesis, MPP+ is transported by a... 

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