Heroin production

Table 6.1 Potential Worldwide Heroin Production, In Metric Tons, 1999-2003...

Of course, within this aggregated picture, there remains considerable variation. Most notably, heroin production continued to expand in the conflict-ridden provinces of southern Afghanistan. While global heroin consumption does not appear to be growing, the impact of this surge in supply needs to be monitored carefully. 

The significance of the contraction in opium cultivation in Myanmar and Laos cannot be overstated. Although opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan increased massively in 2006, the global area under illicit poppy cultivation was still 10 per cent lower in 2006 than in 2000, due to reduction in South-East Asia. But despite the reduction in the area under cultivation, potential heroin production is up, because Afghan fields are more productive than fields in South-East Asia. In 2006, global opium production soared to a new record high of 6,610 mt, a 43 per cent increase over 2005. 

However, most of the benefits of any success in coca eradication have probably been lost because of the new growth in cocaine production in Colombia, where drug production is now controlled mainly by leftist guerrilla groups. On the other side of the world in Afghanistan, the overthrow of the Taliban (which had suppressed heroin production) has resulted in a great increase in production of opium poppies. 

Following the overthrow of the Taliban regime by the United States and its local allies in 2002, Afghanistan has again become the world s largest producer of illicit opium (the raw material for heroin production), with an estimated 61,000 hectares in production by 2003. This could yield as much as 2,865 metric tons of opium. 

P. J. O Neil, P. B. Baker, and T. A. Gough, Illicitly imported heroin products Some physical and chemical features indicative of their origin. Part II, J. Forens. Sci., 29 889 (1984). 

The estimate was derived from the following calculations At the 1971-72 peak of heroin production in the Golden Triangle, much of which was intended for American soldiers in Vietnam, 21 refineries were in operation since then the number has declined. Assuming that ten are still in operation, and that the annual output of each is equivalent to the 3,000... 

Diamorphine is prepared by the isolation and acetylation of morphine. While morphine was first discovered in the dried latex of P. somniferum shortly after 1800, it is now known that of the approximately 110 species of Papaver, only two are known to prodnce morphine in significant quantities, namely P. somniferum L. and P. setigerum DC [1,2]. Of the two species, it is P. somniferum which is nsed to provide the dried latex for heroin production. 

Law enforcement reporting indicates that heroin remains readily available throughout most major metropolitan areas, and availability is increasing in many suburban and rural areas... Estimates ofworldwide heroin production increased considerably between 2001 and 2002 primarily because of increases in Afghanistan—a primary source of heroin destined for Europe. Heroin production estimates for Colombia and Mexico decreased, however. ... 

The availabihty of Southwest Asian heroin appears to have increased slightly in 2003 however, preliminary 2004 data indicate that availability of Southwest Asian hetoin may be declining to pre-2003 levels. Worldwide heroin production incteased in 2002, 2003, and 2004, attributable overwhelmingly to increases in production in Afghanistan. ... 

Walters, the current director of ONDCP, had been a deputy director of ONDCP in charge of supply reduction. In fact, supply reduction initiatives started during the Chnton administration have been continued during the Bush administration. For example. Plan Colombia, an initiative started during the Clinton administration designed to reduce cocaine and heroin production in Colombia, was mentioned in Chapter 2. Plan Colombia has been expanded during the Bush administration. 

Heroin production Morphine free base is refluxed in acetic anhydride for 5h. The mixture is allowed to cool and is neutralized with sodium carbonate causing the precipitation of crude diacetyl-morphine free base, the illicit drug in heroin samples. Monoacetylation of morphine and acetylation of any codeine present also occurs. The crude product is purified by dissolving in acidified water containing charcoal and the free base precipitated by the addition of sodium carbonate. If the hydrochloride salt is required the free base is dissolved in acetone and the product precipitated by the addition of hydrochloride acid. 

Even synthetic chemists are involved in the war against illegal drug production, as shown by a recent example. As you probably know, the restrictions imposed on the cultivation of morphine-producing Papaver somniferum has led to a shortage of codeine for medical purposes. Since codeine can also be made from thebaine, an alkaloid biologically synthesized by the species Papaver bracteatum, and since illicit heroin production from thebaine seems unlikely (Table I), it has been suggested (1) to substitute the cultivation of somniferum for bracteatum. 

In order to evaluate possible risks involved in such a change, the United Nations Narcotics Laboratory has recently convened a working group of experts in Geneva to consider the feasibility of an illicit conversion of thebaine into drugs of abuse. The experts came to the conclusion that the available methods are not likely to be carried out in clandestine laboratories. Should the usual source for heroin production disappear, it would be much more probable that the illicit manufacture would shift to certain entirely synthetic materials of high physiological potency which are fairly easy to prepare. 

---