Synthetic heroin

In 1979-1980, some illegal fentanyl analogues appeared that were being sold as substitutes for heroin on the street. Suddenly, a series of more than a dozen mysterious deaths occurred in southern California. Upon autopsy, the victims strongly looked as if they had overdosed on heroin however, no traces of heroin could be found in their bodies. Later, forensic chemists identified a fentanyl analogue (alpha-methyl-fentanyl) that was present in all of the victims. As it turns out, alpha-methyl-fentanyl was being sold on the streets under the name China White (Figure 7.2), because it resembled (and contained) pure synthetic heroin that was produced in Southeast Asia. 

The two most common analogs of meperidine used as recreational drugs are l-methyl-4-phenyl-4-propionoxypiperidine (MPPP) and l-[2-phenylethyl]-4-acetyloxypiperdine (PEPAP). These compounds have a number of street names, including new heroin, synthetic heroin, synthetic Demerol, and China White. MPPP and PEPAP have pharmacological effects similar to those of heroin, hut more pronounced, producing a sense of euphoria and release from the real world. MPPP, for example, is three times as potent has heroin. 

High None Heroin, synthetic heroin, fentanyl First offense 10 years to (China white), morphine (pure life in prison 1 million forms) to 4 million fine. Second offense 20 years to life in prison 2 million to 8 million fine. 2 or more prior offenses Life imprisonment... 

In the early 1980s, a form of designer meperidine, known as MPPP, was being illegally manufactured. MPPP was also referred to as synthetic heroin. In some cases, the chemical technique was not precise, and a toxic chemical byproduct, MPTP, was produced. MPTP is a known industrial toxin that can destroy nerve cells in certain portions of the brain... 

Another synthetic heroin-like compound was sold to heroin-dependent individuals in California in 1982 as "new heroin", which was soon recognized to cause severe Parkinsonian symptoms in young people. Eventually it was discovered that "new heroin" contained pethidine together with an N-methyl-phenyl-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) contaminant. It is now established that MPTP is converted to a neurotoxic... 

As its first public act, the Dmg Abuse Council issued a widely circulated report advocating the decriminalization of marijuana, a tenfold increase in methadone (synthetic heroin) clinics, and the British system of legalized government-sponsored heroin addiction. Following the release of that report, the Kaiser Foundation and the Commonwealth Fund established a matching fund that more than doubled the annual revenues available to the Dmg Abuse Council to push dmg legalization. 

Synonyms 3-Methylfentanyl (3MF) a-Methylf-entanyl China White Designer fentanyl p-Fluor-ofentanyl Street fentanyl Synthetic heroin Tango and Cash... 

Insight into the environmental causes of PD was obtained in the 1980s when it was shown that an impurity in synthetic heroin, l-methyl-4-phenyl-l,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP), a substance chemically similar to several pesticides, caused severe Parkinsonism in addicts who used this drug intravenously. 32 ft has been subsequently shown that exposures to pesticides, 3334 as weft as tQ some heavy metals 3536 an(j volatile organic solvents, 37 391 have resulted in increased incidences of PD. 

Methyl 4-phenyl 4-propionoxy-piperidine. A street drug. Acts like pethidine, synthetic heroin . Easily converted to and may contain MPTP qv produces Parkinsonian effects. 

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... 

TABLE I. Possibilities for synthetical heroin manufacture from Papaver species... 

In the 1980s, a chemistry graduate student attempted to synthesize synthetic heroin, MPPP, by the sequence shown in the succeeding text (published in the Journal of Organic Chemistry in 1947). 

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