Opium and opiates

Opium and opiate, and any salt, compound, derivative, or preparation of opium or opiate excluding apomorphine, thebaine-derived butorphanol, dextror-phan, nalbuphine, nalmefene, naxolone, and naltrexone, and their respective salts, but including the following ... 

According to the Controlled Substances Act, the term narcotic drug refers to more than just opiate drugs it also includes opium, poppy straw, derivatives of opium and opiates, cocaine, coca leaves, and extracts that contain cocaine and ecgonine (the major metabolite of cocaine) and its derivatives. These may be directly or indirectly produced by extraction from substances, by chemical synthesis, or by a combination of both methods. 

Opium and opiate, and any salt, compound, derivative, or preparation of opium or opiate. 

Opium and Opiates. There is probably less illegal traffic of the resin itself. However, the extraction of morphine and its conversion to the potent heroin by acetylation have moved to opium--producing areas which cannot be controlled, areas such as Burma, Thailand, Malaysia. Thus, the illicit traffic can handle a more potent and less bulky material. It is more difficult to curb. 

In the strict sense, opiates are drugs which are derived from opium and include the natural products morphine, codeine, thebaine and many semi-synthetic congeners derived from them. In the wider sense, opiates are morphine-like drugs with non-peptidic structures. The old term opiates is now more and more replaced by the term opioids which applies to any substance, whether endogenous or synthetic, pqrtidic or non-peptidic, that produces morphine-like effects through an action on opioid receptors. 

The word opioid is used to refer to the overall class including the semi- and fully-synthetic agents, but the word opiate only refers to the naturally occurring opioids such as heroin, opium, and morphine. 

Opium and its derivatives have been employed for centuries for the treatment of pain. Morphine was first synthesized in 1805 and has proven to be one of the most effective analgesic agents available [1], Morphine and its analogs are particularly useful because they diminish pain sensation while maintaining consciousness. However, opiates induce severe side-effects including respiratory depression, nausea, bradycardia and constipation and long-term use of opiates can cause addiction [2]. 

But the question remains if OxyContin is such a great drug, why the concern It stems from the fact that OxyContin comes from the poppy plant, in the form of the alkaloid thebaine. While less powerful than raw opium, and certainly much less powerful than heroin, thebaine is still an opiate... 

Morphine Morphine (C17H19NO3), a habit forming Class A analgesic drug, is the major bioactive constituent of opium poppy seeds. Like other opium constituents (opiates), e.g. heroin, morphine acts directly on the CNS to relieve pain. Morphine is used for the treatment of post-surgical pain and chronic pain (e.g. cancer pain), and as an adjunct to general anaesthesia, and... 

OPIATE Drug derived directly from opium and used in its natural state, without chemical modification. Opiates include morphine, codeine, thebaine, noscapine, and papaverine. 

Berridge, Virginia, and Griffith Edwards. Heroin, Opium and the People Opiate Use in Nineteenth-Century England. New York St. Martins Press, 1981. 

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. 

S. H. Hanson, HPLC assay of the opiates in opium and cough mixtures using dynamically modified silica and UV absorbance, fluorescence and electrochemical detection, Int. J. Pharm., 32 7 (1986). 

By the beginning of the twentieth century, the addictive qualities of opium and other opiates, such as heroin, codeine, laudanum, and Demerol, were a growing concern. However, so little was known about these drugs that heroin was often used in an effort to fight opium addiction. 

In medicine today, narcotics are the main drugs used to treat severe pain. They arc also prescribed to control bad coughs. In proper doses, when they are really needed, opiates are safe and extremely effective. Anyone who has experienced the rapid relief of terrible pain by narcotics knows what blessings they can be. By allowing sick and injured people to take their minds off pain, to feci better, to relax and rest, they can also indirectly promote healing. Opium and its derivatives have earned a secure place in treatment over many years of medical experience. 

Opiates are compounds extracted from the milky latex contained in the unripe seed pods of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum). Opium, morphine, and codeine are the most important opiate alkaloids found in the opium poppy. Opium was used as folk medicine for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years. In the seventeenth century opium smoking led to major addiction problems. In the first decade of the nineteenth century, morphine was isolated from opium. About 20 years later, codeine, one-fifth as strong as morphine, was isolated from both opium and morphine. In 1898, heroin, an extremely potent and addictive derivative of morphine was isolated. The invention of the hypodermic needle during the mid-nineteenth century allowed opiates to be delivered directly into the blood stream, which increases the effects of these drugs. Synthetically produced drugs with morphine-like properties are called opioids. The terms narcotic, opiate, and opioid are frequently used interchangeably. Some common synthetically produced opioids include meperidine (its trade name is Demerol) and methadone, a drug often used to treat heroin addiction. 

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