By the fourteenth century, doctors had observed that long-term use of opium by a person degenerates, corrupts, and weakens the mind.
In 1803 morphine was isolated from opium. Morphine was seen as a powerful painkiller, and within twenty years it changed medicine. The effects of morphine are strongest when put directly into the bloodstream. This led to the invention and refinement in the 1840s and 1850s of the hypodermic syringe. The advancements in medicine also increased the strength of opium. By 1906 there were more than 50,000 patented medicines that contained opiates.
In the past 150 years, scientists have attempted to change the chemical makeup of morphine and codeine to eliminate unpleasant side effects that caused health problems. One of the first attempts (in the 1890s) produced an agent known as heroin. Unfortunately, heroin is not an improvement when it comes to the problems of tolerance, dependence, or abuse. Ironically, it was originally marketed as a cure for opium addiction and alcoholism; yet it led directly to heroin addiction. In fact, since about 1950, heroin has become the principal drug of opioid abusers.
In the United States federal and state laws control the production and distribution of opioid drugs.
This is a free page. This page contains 194 words. This
article contains 1,995 words (approx. 7 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Article with our Opiate and Opioid Drug Abuse Access Pass.
