Opium
Opium is a traditional drug made from the sticky sap in the flowers of the poppy plant.[1] It is a mix of several dozen biologically active opioid compounds. In the 21st century it is cultivated mainly in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the area around Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand.
Opium was used at least 8,000 years ago.[2]
Opium was popular in China in the 19th century and the British profited selling it there, enforcing their desire to sell opium with military expeditions against the Chinese.
While legiptimate medical professionals did presribe opium, in the past, they did so cautiouslsy, as it is highly addictive.[3][4]
While opium had been used as a medicine, for millenia, its first recorded use for The first description of its use in post-operative care was by James Moore, in 1784.[5]
In recent centuries, chemists have developed drugs based on opium, and synthetic drugs which emulate its effects, collectively known as opiods or opiates.[1][3][6] The first new opiate was morphine, a drug first refined from opium, in 1803. More recent drugs include: heroin, methadone, codeine, fentanyl and oxycodone.
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1
"Opioids". Johns Hopkins Medicine. 2023-05-11. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
Opioids are a class of drugs that derive from, or mimic, natural substances found in the opium poppy plant. Opioids work in the brain to produce a variety of effects, including pain relief.
- ↑
Karolina Brook; Jessica Bennett; Sukumar P. Desai (2017). "The Chemical History of Morphine: An 8000-year Journey, from Resin to de-novo Synthesis". Journal of Anesthesia History. Elsevier BV. 3 (2): 50–55. doi:10.1016/j.janh.2017.02.001. ISSN 2352-4529. Archived from the original on 2022-01-21. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
Evidence of human use of opium dates back as far as the sixth millennium BCE. Ancient societies through the Renaissance period created a variety of opium products, proliferating its common use and subsequent addiction. Because the active moiety was not known at this time, the potency of these opium concoctions could neither be predicted nor controlled.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1
"What are opioids?". California Department of Public Health. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
The regular use of opioids can increase a person's tolerance to the drug and lead to dependence. Misuse of prescription and/or use of illicit opioids can result in a substance use disorder (SUD) commonly called opioid use disorder (OUD).
- ↑ Sidney H. Schnoll (2005-10-27). "The Phenomenology of Prescription Opiod Abuse: What Types of Abuse Do Products Need to Resist" (PDF). FDA. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
- ↑
Gillian R. Hamilton; Thomas F. BAskett (2000). "In the arms of morpheus: the development of morphine for postoperative pain relief". Canadian Journal of Anesthesia/Journal canadien d'anesthésie. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. 47 (4): 367–374. doi:10.1007/bf03020955. ISSN 0832-610X. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
The first description of postoperative opium was by James Moore in 1784. Morphine was isolated from opium by Friedrich Serturner in 1805. However, it was not until the development of the hypodermic needle and syringe nearly 50 yr later that the use of morphine became widespread.
- ↑
"Opiates or Opioids: What's the difference?". Oregon Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission. State of Oregon. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
Opiates are chemical compounds that are extracted or refined from natural plant matter (poppy sap and fibers). Examples of opiates: Opium, Morphine, Codeine, Heroin.