Morphine Research Paper

Morphine, codeine and heroin are all derived from the same plant, the opium poppy. The opium drugs have been used for medicinal and recreational use for centuries. In the 1700s opium was mixed into an alcohol solution to help with pain relief as they are a strong depressant. This mixture would be used for helping soldiers with wounds or for the numbing of pain during surgery. Opium was in very high demand and the British Empire controlled the opium fields in India. Britain traded the opium to China for exchange for tea leaves that could only be grown in China. Because of the highly addictive nature of opiuates the people of China got addicted. To combat the addiction the emperor started to burn the boats that sent the opium which started the

first opium war in 1839. The opium family started further developed as chemistry advanced and chemists were able to synthesise and purify different chemicals.
Morphine:
Morphine was first isolated as a drug in 1805 by Friedrich Wilhelm Serturner, a German pharmacist.

He first tested the white yellow mixture on dogs which killed them. He continued his test on himself and found that the drug acted as a depressant that slowed breathing and help relieve pain and induce sleepiness, side effects included nausea, hallucinations and constipation. Saunter named the drug after Morpheus the Greek god of dreams. During the American civil war many of the soldiers were given morphine to help reduce the pain of their injuries. As a result thousands of soldiers came home after the war addicted to the drug. Morphine today is used in many different situations as a pain killer. This would include surgery and, cancer treatment (to relieve pain), it is used because it is very cost effective and is tolerated by patients. However patients are usually given the option to use different pain killers to avoid get addicted to morphine with the result of feeling more pain. Many people throughout the world have been given morphine as prescribed by a doctor but keep renewing the prescription because they are addicted. Morphine can be given as tablets because morphine melts at 255°C or through an IV as 1 gram of morphine will dissolve into 5L of water. It has no odor and is white when in pure

form.

Heroin:
Heroin was in vented in Germany in 1874. This drug was thought to be the savior of all the morphine related addiction issues. It was pitched as a safe, non-addictive substitute for morphine to the American doctors to cure the patients of their morphine addiction. As the doctors began to give this drug to their patients the drug was found to be more addictive than morphine, started the heroin addiction we see today. Until 1920 heroin was sold legally in the United States but, it was then banned under the Dangerous Drug Act. There are now no medical uses of heroin and it is illegal to handle the drug in anyway. The first account of possession of heroin is one year in prison pr a five thousand dollar fine. The drug is solid at room temperature, will melt at 173° and boil at 273°C, which is a big difference from its family drug morphine. However, just like morphine heroin is white, bitter and odourless when in pure form.

Codeine:
Codeine was first separated by a French scientist, Pierre Robiquet, in 1832, 28 years after morphine was first isolated (History of Codeine). Codeine is the safest opiate meaning it is the least addictive in its drug class, however least addictive can still be addictive to many patients that use this. Codeine is used as an antitussive which means it relieves a chronic cough. Before Codeine had to made from the tar inside the opiate poppy but, the poppy grows in unfriendly territory to the western world. Chemists learned how to make codeine from coal tar, to no longer deal with the drug cartels they had to get the plant from, making the import of opiate poppies unnecessary. Codeine is in most of the prescribed cough relievers in pharmacies. Although Codeine is relatively safe when it is given to small children can be quickly metabolized into morphine killing many. It is not as notorious as the other opiates but Codeine can still get many people addicted when used as a recreational drug.