Hard drugs: opium derivatives

Morphine

Opium contains more than 20 alkaloids with various chemical compositions. The most abundant are morphine (10%), papaverine (1%), codeine (0.5%) and thebaine (0.2%).

Morphine is the principal alkaloid of opium, and it is from it that much of  their properties originate. It was synthesized in 1803 by the German chemist Friedrich Sertürner.

Its formula is C 17 H 19 NO 3 , and was christened “morphine” for his “discoverer”, in honor of Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams.

The medicinal effects of opium, tested for millennia, are mainly due to its content of morphine. It is especially morphine that produces the analgesic and narcotic effects. Separate administration of morphine has the advantage of allowing more precise dosing than opium (which has  chemical variability).

Despite being “demonized” by the industrial and global culture, morphine is a relatively benign alkaloid that can be used to treat pain and as an anesthetic with much lower risks than other similar products.

The synthesis of morphine in 1804 went relatively unnoticed until Alexander Wood invented the hypodermic syringe in 1853. This instrument, which was to revolutionize medical techniques (not always positive), arrived on time to allow injection of morphine to wounded soldiers in the US Civil War and the Franco-

Prussian war.

It is estimated that the US conflict left a toll of more than 400,000 addicts. The same treatment based on morphine was used many wars of the late nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth century. Millions of soldiers were injected and soon “armies of addicts” developed. So much that at the end of the century the morphine addiction was called “disease of the soldiers”. For this reason, morphine has been unjustly considered the first of the ‘hard’drugs”.

The administration of morphine via injection continued during World War II. For over 70 years, until the 1920s, morphine was used indiscriminately in all the armed forces of the great powers, causing widespread dissemination of their consumption.

We can say that, to some extent, that morphine addiction expanded globally as a result of the militaristic policies of the imperialist governments of Europe.

The properties of morphine and its addictive character

The usual dose of morphine is about 15 mg for individuals weighing 70 kg. Its analgesic effect is significant and lasts about 4 or 5 hours. The lethal dose for tolerant persons is about 1/2- 1 gram (that is about 10 times less than opium).

It can be effectively administered intramuscularly, by nasal aspiration or rectally. Dependence is generated from doses of about 0.2-0-5 grams per day for a month. The abstinenciales symptoms are sweating, tremors, a general feeling of uneasiness, cramps, vomiting and diarrhea. Generally, its duration, as in the case of opium, is about 3 days.

Despite its excellent value as a pain reliever medicine, higher than that of other similar analgesic and hypnotic drugs, their use has been severely limited, particularly for low-income patients. In the US it is prescribed in relation with the economic possibility of the sick patient, with a minimum of 3 doses for people with fewer resources and a maximum of 12 for the more affluent patients.

Heroin

In the late nineteenth century (1898) with the alleged purpose of combating the social “plague” of morphine, Bayer of Germany developed and began producing a derivative of morphine which was found to have an effect four to ten times greater than morphine. To obtain heroine morphine it is treated with acetic acid obtaining a new substance, whose chemical name is “diacetylmorphine”, but that is more commonly known as “heroin”.

Heroin can be injected or aspirated by the nasal route. Oral consumptio is not very effective, and it is seldom used rectally.

Heroin smoking (inhaling the smoke emitted when heated in aluminum foil) has, like the  intravenous administration, an immediate result.

The greatest effect of injectable heroin is achieved when the person is accustomed to the needle (some prefer injecting heroin of poor quality, instead of aiming to high purity heroin).

The painkiller power of heroin is significantly superior to morphine. Analgesic dose is 3 times lower (about 5-7 mg intramuscularly). The lethal dose is about 2 to 3 milligrams per kilogram of weight (about 0.15 grams for a 70 kilograms) that is 3 to 4 times less than morphine.

Despite its greater intensity, the effect of heroin is less depressant than morphine, it does not produce much stupor, and is compatible with major bodily activity. The first administration of heroin is generally received with displeasure, neuralgia, vomiting and nausea. Virtually no sane person receiving their first dose of heroin wants to repeat the experience. However, in people with serious health problems, it is often perceived a positive reaction.

Heroin, like morphine, is a powerful sedative, but less depressant than morphine or opium. In that sense, it is a more appropriate drug for cases of fear and suffering in traumatic pain. It is an excellent cough suppressant.

Heroin did not meet its original goal of ending addiction to morphine. Instead, its use intensified addictions. In the body, heroin is broken down into morphine again, but when injected directly into the veins the first effect is an overwhelming feeling of pleasure, “hedonism” at full power. Long-term heroin use is devastating, causing an uncontrollable physical and psychological addiction.

For William Burroughs, a writer who had been addicted to this substance, heroin can become an ideal as merchandise ... “the customer is able to crawl into a sewer and beg to buy it.”

This process of transformation of one of the oldest drugs in history as a source of potentially hazardous substances, shows how many things are wrong with the society of global capitalist domination in which we live. Poppy is one of the most beneficial and powerful plants. It was used in many societies for thousands of years to cure, relieve pain, develop visions of wisdom, a sacred spirit for millions of women and men. And yet, today, is accused of being the worst scourge.

Where is the problem? In the poppy? With all its strength and virtues? Or in societies that have perverted nature?