Nicotine Narcotics

Above the critical temperature and pressure, a substance is referred to as a supercritical fluid. Such fluids have unusual solvent properties that have led to many practical applications. Supercritical carbon dioxide is used most commonly because it is cheap, nontoxic, and relatively easy to liquefy (critical T = 31°C, P = 73 atm). It was first used more than 20 years ago to extract caffeine from coffee dichloromethane, CH2C12, long used for this purpose, is both a narcotic and a potential carcinogen. Today more than 10s metric tons of decaf coffee are made annually using supercritical C02. It is also used on a large scale to extract nicotine from tobacco and various objectionable impurities from the hops used to make beer. 

Brecher, M. (1972). In E.M. Brecher (Ed.), Licit and Illicit Drugs The Consumers Union Report on Narcotics, stimulants, depressants, inhalants, hallucinogens marijuana— including caffeine, nicotine and alcohol (335-393). Mount Vernon, New York Consumers Union. 

An alkaloid is a complex organic chemical substance found in plants, which characteristically combines nitrogen with other elements, has a bitter taste, and typically has some toxic, stimulant, analgesic effects. There are many different alkaloids, 30 of which are found in the opium plant. While morphine is the most important alkaloid in opium—for its natural narcotic qualities as well as providing the chemical structure for heroin—another alkaloid, codeine, is also sought after for its medicinal attributes. Other alkaloids include papaverine, narcotine, nicotine, atropine, cocaine, and mescaline. While the concentration of morphine in opium varies depending on where and how the plant is cultivated, it typically ranges from 3 percent to 20 percent. 

Brecher, E.M. and the editors of Consumer Reports. Licit and Illicit Drugs The Consumer Union Report on Narcotics, Stimulants, Depressants, Inhalants, Hallucinogens, and Marijuana—Including Caffeine, Nicotine and Alcohol. Boston Little, Brown and Company, 1972., pp. 309-34. 

Ma huang, "herbal ecstasy," other phenylpropanolamine analogues Nicotine and withdrawal, anabolic steroids, narcotic withdrawal, methylphenidate, phencyclidine, ketamine, ergotamine and other ergot-containing herbal products, St. John s wort Food Substances Sodium ... 

Beginning in 1985, a series of patents was issued for the use of ibogaine as a rapid means of interrupting addiction to narcotics (morphine and heroin) (3), cocaine and amphetamine (4), alcohol (5), nicotine (6) and polydrug dependency syndrome (35). These patents claim that an oral or rectal dose of ibogaine (4-25 mg/kg) interrupts the dependence syndrome, allowing patients to maintain a drug-free lifestyle for at least 6 months. 

Narwedine (83), the biogenetic precursor of galanthamine (75), has been studied as a respiratory stimulator. It increases the amplitude and decreases the frequency of cardiac contractions and would therefore be of value in reducing blood loss during surgery (41). It also inhibits the action of narcotics and hypnotics, and increases the analgesic effect of morphine (60) as well as the pharmacological effects of caffeine, carbazole, arecoline, and nicotine (30). 

L. inflata L. is a traditional medicinal plant native to North America. It contains several piperidine alkaloids. The main alkaloid is lobeline which has a stimulatory effect on the respiratory center and it is applied in the cases of asthma, gas- and narcotic-poisoning. Thus, lobeiine is currently the subject of renewed interest for the treatment of drug abuse and neurological disorders, like Alzheimer s or Parkinson s disease, which pose an important public health problem in industrial countries. As lobeiine can act as a competitive nicotinic receptor antagonist, it is frequently used in antismoking preparations. Interest in Lobelia alkaloids, and in particular (-)-lobeline, the most active of them, has increased in recent years due to their activity on the central nervous system (CNS). 

---