The Relationship Between Morphine And Codeine

Opium came from opium poppy seeds, which were grown and sold under British ruling in India. The British East India Company developed a monopoly which took place in effectively growing opium and making profits and/or trading it with the Chinese in exchange for their premium good such as silk, porcelain, and tea. According to Memorials on the Legalization and Elimination of Opium by Xu Naiji and Yuan Yulin, they explained how the rise of opium prompted many debts and death around China. Opium became an addiction for many, from the poor to officials in government positions. Cutting off all access of trading opium would’ve started issues in the trading network, not just with Britain but with the Western countries as well. Instead of passing laws to completely ban opium, they reverted to only permitting the barbarian merchants to import opium to pay duty as a medication. This made it unacceptable for money to be involved with the product. According to Xu Naiji, smokers of opium were lazy, with no purpose in life and if they were caught smoking it, the only punishment was getting the opium confiscated. However, if any officer, scholar, or soldier were found smoking opium, the would be immediately dismissed from public employ. Yuan Yulin, a minister, believes that the expansion of opium is the government’s fault, being that they cannot decipher right from wrong; he thought it was unfair that prohibition of smoking opium only applied to the officers of the government, scholars, and military but not the common people. The British capitalized on the effects of opium, because many of China’s population were going to put forth their money, goods, etc. for

Codeine is a narcotic, and this common opioid that has been administered for a long as we can remember. It is used for acute pain relief and could give a feeling of euphoria “a high” as well as a degree of sedation. With many prescription drugs, they carry some risk and they include side effects such as constipation and nausea and drowsiness (Canada, 2009) (Addiction.com, 2011).

Opiates and opioids are narcotic pain medications that are highly addictive and deadly. Although these two drugs are nearly identical, there is one major difference that sets them apart from each other; Opiates are drugs that are obtained through opium, while opioids are drugs that are created synthetically, and are used to parallel the effects and key characteristics of that of opium (George F. Koob, Michael A. Arends, & Michel Le Moal, 2014).

Opium was first introduced to China by Turkish and Arab traders in the late 6th or early 7th century. Taken orally to relieve tension and pain, the drug was used in limited quantities until the 17th century. At that point, the practice of smoking tobacco spread from North America to China, and opium smoking soon became popular throughout the country. Opium addiction increased, and opium importations grew rapidly during the first century of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12). By 1729 it had become such a problem that the Yongzheng emperor “ruled 1722–35”prohibited the sale and smoking of opium. That failed to hamper the trade, and in 1796 the Jiaqing emperor outlawed opium importation and cultivation. In spite of such decrees, however, the opium trade continued to

"Presently she cast a drug into the wine of which they drank to lull all pain and anger and bring forgetfulness of every sorrow." -The Odyssey, Homer (Ninth century B.C.) Opium is one of the greatest discoveries in the field of medicine the world has ever come across. While its use dates to about 2100/3000 BC in Sumerian, the educated and controlled use of the drug started in 1800s with the isolation of Morphine by Serturner. He named it Morphine after the Greek God of dreams, Morpheus.

Opium, Morphine, and Heroin have been around for centuries. Currently they are all seen as nuisances to society, and are highly addictive, dirty drugs. But, in the late 19th century these pests were viewed in quiet a different light. They were praised for their healing powers, and even referred to as “GOM” or “Gods own medicine”. In the 19th century, the idea of a drug was fresh, and peoples’ appetites were ravenous. Deemed to be socially acceptable, they hit America fast, and would unknowingly cause an everlasting effect on our nation.

When an expecting mother is exposed to codeine, it can cause her unborn child to experience a life threating withdrawal process after birth (7). Codeine is an opiate that is used as an analgesic and cough suppressant (1). It is a depressant, meaning it lowers neurotransmission levels causing messages between the brain and body to be slowed down. It can be used on its own or it can be combined with other drugs (1). It is found in opium but can be synthesized from morphine (3,5). When it is metabolized in the body, it becomes morphine once again (5). Jean-Pierre Robiquet first isolated codeine from opiate poppies in 1832 in France (3). He synthesized the codeine from opiate poppies for medical use (3). It is used in the medical field to provide relief of pain, dry cough, diarrhea, cold, and flu for patients (2).

In the 19th century, the medical profession had made extraordinary strides with respect to medical healing; morphine was identified as the active ingredient in opium (a drug that had been used for over 3,000 years) had become the doctor’s most reliable

The poppy plant is indigenous to parts of Southeast Asia and the raw substance harvested from the flower of the poppy plant called opium. Opium had been commonly smoked for recreational use in Asia for at least 1000 years and was socially acceptable. About 200 years ago addiction became a problem in China and following World War II China strictly limited access to opium. After the restriction on opium, its usage decreased while at the same time, taking its place was the more refined heroin. The opium is crudely refined into the common pain reliever known as morphine. Morphine is then further refined the substance called heroin which was also smoked. Smoking heroin also known as “Chasing the dragon” and poor working class people were drawn to this to help them cope with the harsh realities of their wretched living conditions. Smoking opium required complicated and bulky equipment while heroin did not require such devices, and the limited access to needles, smoking heroin was the most common method at the time (Lam, 1997; PBS, 1998). Once a person is addicted to heroin it can cause them to want nothing but to find more heroin by whatever means possible (Heroin Facts,

Opioid drugs and their receptor is one of the most extensively studying areas in pharmacology. This field of research really began from isolation of morphine, an active ingredient of opium, by German pharmacist Friedrich Sertürner in 1989. The compound he managed to isolate was called morphine after Morpheus, the Greek god of dream. Later Pierre Robiquet in France isolated the second predominant alcholoid of opium, codeine. After the discovery that morphine can be used as anesthetic in some medical procedures, it became widely used during surgeries (Brownstein, 1993). In 1898, the Bayer Company in Germany synthesized another opioid compound, heroin. Heroin was a non-prescription drug, which was thought to be more potent than morphine in producing analgesia, and more powerful than codeine in cough suppression. The legal production of heroin was suspended in 1925 when high levels of heroin addiction were noticed (Hosztafi, 2001, Tsisanova, 2012). In 1939, Otto Eisleb synthesized meperidine, first opioid ligand structurally not related to morphine. This was followed by the discovery of methadone by Max Bochmühl and Gustav Ehrhart just before the Second World War in unfortunate attempt to synthesize addiction-free opioid (Sneader, 2005, Tsisanova, 2012). 1940s were marked with the discovery of opioid antagonists, nalorphine and naloxone. The later compound is still widely used in research as well as clinically

Musto D.?THE HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE CONTROL OVER OPIUM, COCAINE, AND THEIR DERIVATIVES.?Available at:?http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/history/ophs.htm. Accessed 10/19, 2015.

Morphine produces both its therapeutic and its adverse effects by interaction with one or more classes of specific opioid receptors located throughout the body. Morphine acts as a full agonist, binding with and activating opioid receptors at sites in the periaqueductal and periventricular

During the 18th century, the British began trading opium to the Chinese. They had finally found a commodity the Chinese were willing to buy. Opium was an illicit drug with addictive properties. As demand on opium increased, the British traders made huge profits and the trade imbalance was reversed. There was now a steady flow of silver leaving China. In 1796, the Ch’ing government banned the importation of opium. This did not stop the British, who continued the trade illegally. As well, extensive corruption amongst Chinese officials allowed the opium trade to flourish.

Morphine was the first alkaloid be identified from the opium poppy. There are a number of

Opium- an addictive drug originally used as a painkiller. It is obtained from the unripe seeds of the opium poppy and can be made into substances that a person can smoke causing relaxation, alleviated anxiety, and a state of euphoria. Continued use of the drug also induces deterioration to the mind and body of a person eventually causing death. The substance was therefore stated illegal in China during the late 18th Century yet consistently smuggled into the country via British merchant ships. As the Chinese placed more restrictions on trade in an effort to abolish the importation of opium, the battle against the drug raged on until war was unavoidable between England and China. It is this war that lasted from 1839-1842