What Makes A Drug Addiction?

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.

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.

Heroin was first produced in 1898 in Germany, by Bayer Pharmaceutical Company as a substitute for morphine.6 It was marketed as a non-addictive miracle drug, to use as a cough syrup and pain reliever, but 12 years later it was discovered that heroin was about two times as potent as morphine.5-6 Today, we know heroin as a highly addictive narcotic which has played its part in the worst opioid crisis in the history of British Colombia.2 Heroin is an opioid made from the resin of poppy plants which contain morphine.1 The drug itself can be a white or brown powder or a black goo.1 It is commonly mixed with water and injected with a needle right into the body, but can also be smoked or snorted up the nose.1,3 These methods send it very quickly to

Opium use during the 17th and 18th century the use of opiates was positive and no one saw the harmful effects it could bring. Morphine, heroin, and oxycontin were widely used for helping with pain. In the turn of the 19th century people were having concerns of the side effects of these opiate drugs as well as the health risks that these drugs were bringing about. These drugs were highly addictive and once people were hooked onto the opiate it was very hard to get them off and this was leading to deaths and this was scaring people. Eventually in the 20th century the government saw the risks involved with legal drug use and they started putting regulation over the opiates. They would make the drugs illegal and if people were caught using they

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

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.

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

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, a white powder, was created in 1874, and was sold as a safe substitute for morphine. However, it was discovered that heroin produced a quick dependency in people. Heroin and other opiates were made illegal in 1920 as part of the Dangerous Drugs Act. Still today, however, Heroin is illegally manufactured and imported, largely from the Indian sub-continent.

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:

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

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

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.

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,

"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.