Having a drug addiction is a very tough thing to go through in life. It consumes your life, you wake up wanting drugs, waste the day looking for drugs and go to sleep in a drug induce “. “Coma”. At one time certain drugs were legal to use but of course it became addictive and proven to be fatal. Even though doctors, soda companies, and grocery stores use to sell these legal drugs, it’s questionable to understand what makes these drugs addictive and what made it suddenly illegal. During the 19th century opium was legal and free to use, doctors would prescribe it for tooth aches and also for menstrual cramps. Opium is known as “the Breadseed Poppy and is arguably the most infamous flower in the history of mankind. Used medically …show more content…
In 1943 LSD was accidentally discovered after a Swiss scientist was testing chemicals and it accidentally absorbed into his skin. During the 1950’s when the cold war was taking place, the U.S Army along with the CIA and researchers learned that LSD can be used as “brainwashing” the enemy. LSD is “manufactured from lysergic acid, which is found in the ergot fungus that grows on rye and other grains” (drugfree, 2013). LSD or as known as “acid” can have a person hallucinating, alter time and also vivid visions, the drug is unpredictable. In the 1970 congress listed the drug as a Schedule I substances, meaning it is not recognized as medicinal or therapeutic. In the early 20th century heroin was legal believe it or not, and it was used as a treatment for coughs and for as a methadone program for morphine users. Heroin is “processed from morphine which occurs naturally in the seedpod of the Asian opium poppy plant” (heroin, 2012). Used as a pain reliever ended up being an addiction for millions of Americans. Heroin was later outlawed in 1924, but it is still being sold for money and used by users even though it is illegal. What is a drug addiction? “Addiction is defined as a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use,
For thousands of years, opiates have been used in the treatment of pain. Opium is believed to have been discovered 6000 BC, and since then, it has had a huge impact on both medicine and the recreations of those seeking euphoria. More recent than the ancient discovery of natural opium are the derivatives of opium, such as the alkaloids morphine, codeine, and thebaine. From these alkaloids, semi-synthetic opiates can by synthesized, such as hydrocodone, and oxycodone. Synthetic opioids are also quite prevalent, which include fentanyl and tramadol. Opium can also be processed into heroin, a morphine derivative. As advancements were made in science and engineering to allow for a wider distribution and usage of opiates, the problems of dependence and overdose also increased drastically. According to Hart and Ksir (2013, p. 302), the invention of the hypodermic needle for intravenous administration of morphine and other drugs allowed for a much faster and more potent dose of the drug. With this increased potency came an increase in the possibility of a recreational intravenous user to overdose. Hart also mentions that some of the wars surrounding the era of the synthesis of morphine may have contributed to the rise of morphine, seeing as a medic soldier’s motto was always “first provide relief” (2013). This relief-driven attitude and extensive use of opioid analgesics in medicine during the time, in addition to the large amount of patent medicines and remedies on the market may
Drug use has surrounded us as a species since the stone age. The first references of alcohol were found within ancient Chinese civilizations, which date to roughly 9,000 years ago (McGovern, et al.). The original sources for these alcohols were rice and millet. One of the first surgical anesthetics used was opium. It is believed that some of the first Sumerian clay tablets contained basic prescriptions of opium for pain relief. Many Arabic cultures also used opium for diseases and issues relating to gastrointestinal issues and eye abnormalities (McGovern, et al.). Whether drugs were used for recreational purposes or for medicinal uses is left in the history.
Next, there is an extensive history of opioid use for pain management, and other symptom management as well. Morphine can be traced back to Civil War veterans trying to manage pain and, consequently, being addicted. “‘Drugs were already on the scene and being consumed at alarming rates long before the start of the war,’ said Mark A Quinoes, a scholar who studied drug abuse during the Civil War.” It was not until 1898 that heroin was on the market for commercial sale, considered a “wonder drug,” it began to spread in use along with users that found out injecting it would increase its effects. There was little known about these new opioids, they were even used as cough suppressants. Heroin worked for what is was being used as, a pain suppressant, and there were few other options. In 1914 the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act imposed a tax on importing and selling opium or coca leaves. In 1924 doctors were avoiding using opioids after being aware of their addictive nature which lead heroin becoming illegal. Without this opioid, doctors had to get creative when treating World War II soldiers, this sparked research into nerve blockers. These nerve blockers managed pain without the use of surgery. This was, unfortunately, not the end of the opioid. While these results were shocking the pharmaceutical industry still faces much leniency from the federal
Throughout history men and women have been consuming psychotrophic substances for various purposes, including for relaxation, to achieve a state of euphoria, or to alter consciousness in order to find spiritual enlightenment. References to the opium poppy, which has been a major source of these psychotrophic substances, have been discovered in writings as far back as that of the Sumerians in 3300BC (Fernandez 1998:3). Opium has been used in various forms over the centuries for medicinal in addition to recreational purposes.
Injured veterans in the mid-1800s would become hooked because they were treated with morphine to help dull the pain of early medical procedures. The Bayer Co., manufacturers of the household brand Bayer aspirin, started producing heroin in 1898, and the effects were so immediate that it was considered a cure-all medicine. It was rushed to shelves. Heroin use spread greatly in popularity during the following decades. Back in the days of early pharmaceuticals, there wasn’t much of an option regarding effective pain management. The drug’s effects seemed too good to be true. It was used to treat everything from headaches to muscle spasms to heavy
Heroin Addiction in Australia. There are many fact of this devastated addiction which lead a person to die or rather hope to. Heroin is an opiate drug which belongs to morphine, and morphine itself obtained from the opium poppy plant and this plant called papaver somniferum which means a hypnotic plant, also this plant grows in many countries such as Afghanistan, India, Australia, and China, additionally in 1803 heroin first discovered, and the reason why it has discovered is to help patients to kill the pain, so its name was a painkiller. (Live Science 2015) In addition, according to National Institute in Drug Abuse (2014) heroin is a highly chronic addictive drug that contains morphine which is from a plant called opium poppy that belongs
Opioids was first cultivated from the poppy seed, in the 3400s B.C. by the lower Mesopotamians, known as the “Hul Gil” or the “Joy Plant”. Such a small plant to give the ability of an aphrodisiac, calming affect over the body and mind, then best believe word traveled fast. The opioids effect made an impact on Hippocrates, “father of medicine”, who used the poppy seed as a liquid medication to help with the pain in certain cases between 460 to 357 B.C. Later, one Chinese doctor, sometime between 220-264 A.D., used the poppy opioids concoction for these undergoing operations and have the patients relax yet conscious. After a small disappearance from the public, opium pills were later concocted by Paracelsus and was named laudanum. Sometime much later, Friedich Wilhelm Adam Sertürner isolated morphine and it became the non-pain pill available throughout the world. It was a common drug during the American Civil War, thus beginning the opioids addiction. Then in 1898, heroin became manufactured as a substitute for morphine for its non-addictive state afterwards. In 1916, oxycodone was created to have less affective dependencies of morphine and heroin. Many laws have been passed to help the addiction and dependency for these drugs:
Heroin, derived from morphine, is classified in the opioid family of painkilling drugs, made from the opium poppy plant, specifically the opium from the sap of the plant which is harvested from the seed pods after the flower falls off. The opium poppy is generally grown in Southeast Asia, Mexico, the Middle East and parts of Central and South America (Weintraub 16). Opium was used in the past in countries such as Egypt as a “cure-all” drug and a poison; It was then sold to parts of China and used as a recreational drug that had many users addicted and ruined their lives (Weintraub 16-17). A majority of the heroin in the United States today is smuggled in from South America and Mexico, and is coming over in record amounts
Opiates are derivatives of the Poppy plant or better known as Opium, but are sometimes chemically reproduced scientifically in labs as products that assume the same chemical make-up. Opium is made up of two main pain relieving drugs, Morphine and Codeine, which are used in the treatment of many stages of pain. There are many different forms of Opiates, or Opioids, such as Heroin, Oxycodone, and Hydrocodone.
Heroin was invented in the 1895. (“Opium Throughout History”) It was a new concoction based on morphine, similar to the then popular laudanum, and was initially meant to be used as a cheaper medical substitute at the time. Heroin was never successfully brought into the medical fold, but was popular as a recreational drug almost immediately. Opiates, in one form or another, have been used for medical pain relief and recreationally since as early as 3400 BC. (“Opium throughout History”) Throughout the history of opium, control, regulation, trade, and addiction have been struggles for every society and civilization, starting with the Egyptians, hitting the Romans, the Chinese, and the Portuguese on the way, and continues to be a struggle in every modern society in the world. (“World Drug Report 2010”)
For at least two centuries different morphine and opium derived tinctures were sold by various pharmaceutical companies. It wasn’t until 1898 when a morphine derived cough suppressant named heroin was created that a problem with such opiates arose. Within a short time heroin's addictive nature affected around three hundred thousand people in the U.S. Soon opiate based medications would be banned unless for medical use. In 1916 two German Scientist synthesized what they thought was a non-addictive replacement for narcotics like heroin. This drug would be known as oxycodone. Oxycodone is an odorless, white, crystalline powder derived from the opium alkaloid, thebaine. Its molecular formula is C18 H21NO4. Although it was brought to America in 1939, it wasn’t until 1950 that it became a popular drug for use. This happened when it was combined with aspirin into Percodan which quickly became a highly abused drug. However, people would still frequently look toward oxycodone for the treatment of chronic pain. 1966 was a big year for Purdue Pharma when they released OxyContin, a pure oxycodone tablet with a time release base which would hopefully prevent abuse. This drug soon earned the nickname “Hillbilly Heroin” and a mass breakout of overdoses and arrests
"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.
What is addiction? The most common definition is the condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity. Addiction is so much more than that. People with addiction may not realize that their problem is out of control and could be causing problems for themselves or others around them. Addiction becomes an all-time thing and interferes with usual life responsibilities like relationships, social life, work, and health. People that are struggling with addiction, often cannot quit on their own. Addiction is an illness that entails treatment,
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.
What is an addiction? Addiction is the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity. For example, Heroin is a highly addictive drug, and its use is a serious problem in the United States. What is heroin? Heroin is an addictive drug processed from morphine, which comes from the Seedpod of the opium Asian poppy plant. Heroin is the worst addiction possible it destroys the body and families. My best friend's sister was addicted to heroin after a couple of her little immature friend's peer pressured her into injecting herself with this horrific drug. She was only 22 years old. She always wanted to be a model since she was a child. She was