History of opium

Booth, Martin. A Brief History of Opium. Available online at http // www.opioids.com/timeline. Accessed June 2,2006. 

Benedetti C, Premuda L The history of opium and its derivatives. In Benedetti C et al (editors) Advances in Pain Research and Therapy, vol 14. Raven Press, 1990. 

The history of opium usage stretches back to 3400 B. C., where it was first cultivated in lower Mesopotamia. The Sumerians called the poppy Hul Gil or the joy plant. The art of poppy cultivation spread from the Sumerians to the Assyrians, and from the Assyrians to the Babylonians and Egyptians. 

Aragon-Poce F, Martinez-Femandez E, Marquez-Espinos C, Perez A, Mraa R, Torres LM (2002) History of opium. Int Congr Ser 1242 19-21... 

More interesting, as regards future developments, are the eiforts now being made to dispense with opium as an intermediate in the production of morphine. The early history of experiments in the direct extraction of the alkaloid from poppy capsules and poppy straw has been recounted by Goris and by Wiiest and Frey. ... 

Coleridge did his best while under opium, and we owe the loss of the end of "Kubla Khan" to the interruption of an importunate "man from Porlock, ever accursed in the history of the human race ... 

Over the course of human history there have been countless powerful natural and artificial drugs, but none parallel opium in its mythical status, range of uses, and longevity of interest. Indeed, no other drug has had an economic, political, and social influence comparable to opium and its derivatives. Opium is the oldest drug ever cultivated and actively pursued by the human species it even predates the fermentation of alcohol. The story of opium could fill entire libraries with historical, clinical, and anecdotal information. 

The method of the opium den constitutes the primary process used by the majority of opium smokers throughout history, but today, smoking opium by other methods is more prevalent in the West. There are other traditional methods of smoking... 

It is hard to overemphasise the impact of the consumption of opium on China in the nineteenth century. Before this trade began, China was a proud, self-sufficient, technologically and scientifically advanced nation (some have claimed China was often 4-7 centuries in advance of the European nations in these respects). By the end of the nineteenth century China was weakened to the extent that it was hard to govern, impoverished and technologically surpassed by its neighbour Japan, North America and the European nations. The roots of its troubled history in the twentieth century could be said to lie in the soil of Bengal where the East India Company grew its opium. 

Morphine is the principal alkaloid obtained from opium. Opium is the resinous latex that exudes from the seed pod of the opium poppy, Papver somneferum, when it is lacerated. Alkaloids account for approximately 25% of opium, and of this 25% about 60% is morphine. Remains of poppy seeds and pods have been found in Neolithic caves, indicating that the use of opium predates written history. The opium poppy is native to the eastern Mediterranean, but today it is chiefly cultivated from the Middle East through southern Asia and into China and Southeast Asia. The first civilization known to use opium was the Sumerians, who inhabited Mesopotamia in present-day western Iraq, around 3500 B.c.E. Sumerians traded opium with other civilizations, and this led to the cultivation of opium poppies and the production of opium in many geographic areas including Egypt, India, Persia (Iran), Southeast Asia, and China. 

Opium has been used medicinally throughout history. Writings of ancient physicians in many cultures espoused the virtues of opium as a remedy for all types of ailments including pain relief, cough suppression, and diarrhea. Remedies prepared by alchemists and ancient physicians often contained opium. Galen (131-200) prescribed opium for headaches, deafness, melancholy, epilepsy, asthma, and colic. The famous European physician Paracelsus (1493-1541) produced an alcoholic potion containing opium called laudanum. Varieties of laudanum were used for several hundred years as medicinal drinks and were readily available in apothecaries. 

Humans have a long history of use of stimulant and mind-altering substances. Tea, coffee, alcohol, tobacco, opium, cocaine, marijuana, and a host of... 

Codeine, also known as methylmorpliine, C H2 NOt H20, is a colorless white crystalline substance, mp 154.9 C, slightly soluble in water, soluble in alcohol and chloroform, effloresces slowly in dry air. Codeine is derived from opium by extraction or by the methylation of morphine. For medical use, codeine is usually offered as the dichlotide, phosphate, or sulfate. Codeine is habit forming. Codeine is known to exacerbate urticaria (familiarly known as hives). Since codeine is incorporated in numerous prescription medicines for headache, heartburn, fatigue, coughing, and relief of aches and pains, persons with a history of urticaria should make this fact known to their physician. Codeine is sometimes used ill cases of acute pericarditis to relieve severe chest pains in early phases of disease. Codeine is sometimes used in drug therapy of renal (kidney) diseases. 

Two of the most important effects of opium are its abilities to relieve pain and produce euphoria. Euphoria is best described as an exaggerated sense of well-being, possibly with mild elation or a sense of calmness. Opium s ability to produce euphoria may be what prompted its use by so many throughout history as a cure-all. After all, while it may not have had the curative effect on a person s illness that was suspected or promised, it usually made them feel better. 

Hydromorphone and its natural opioid relatives have been used to relieve pain, treat a variety of ailments, and create euphoric feelings at least as far back as the time of the ancient Greeks. In early Greek history, the priests controlled the use of opium and ascribed to it supernatural powers. In the fifth century bc, Hippocrates, the father of medicine, dismissed the supernatural attributes of opium. Hippocrates believed opium had cathartic, narcotic, hypnotic, and styptic properties. He believed that all diseases had a natural origin and could be cured by natural therapies. All of the natural opiates historically were derived from opium poppy plants. The liquid extracted from the poppy seeds was typically dried to create a concentrated powder. These extracts were then smoked, eaten, or drank. 

Opium is a naturally occurring narcotic derived from the annual plant Papaver somniferum, widely known as the opium poppy. Although readily recognized in many countries and even celebrated at various times and places in history, the opium poppy lives legally in the United States and many other countries today only in memory and myth. For example, these poppies are popularly recognized in the United States for their role in the children s story, The Wizard of Oz, as the flowers the Wicked Witch used to put Dorothy and her companions to sleep as they traveled to the Emerald City in the mythical land of Oz. However, the true history of the drug and the poppy flower tells an intriguing story in itself. 

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