Morphine
From Drug Rehab Wiki
Morphine is a highly potent crystalline narcotic base that is the principal alkaloid of opium. It is usually found in the form of soluble sodium, either as a sulfate or hydrochloride, and is used as an analgesic or sedative in medicinal use to relieve chronic severe pain or suffering by directly affecting the central nervous system. It is an extremely addictive psychoactive substance in which both physical and psychological dependence as well as tolerance to the substance develops quickly.
The pain-relieving effect of opiates has long been known to physicians, with documented records of its medicinal use available as early as the second century. Evidence of a substance combining alcohol and opiate particles was first recognized during the 5th and 6th centuries by alchemists within the Byzantine Empire, but the more simple form of opiates was introduced by Theophrastus Paracelsus during the 16th century. Paracelsus extracted the opiate alkaloids by saturation of alcohol, which resulted in an opium tincture he called “laudanum.” The elixir was used for relieving various types of pain and ailments and remained in popular use among physicians and patients throughout the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Laudanum’s addictive qualities became more prevalent over time and the substance was gradually regulated by the turn of the 20th century. Medicinally, it is mostly used as an antidiarrheal or as a pain reliever in some neonatal withdrawal syndrome among infants.
It was not until 1804, however, that the organic crystalline narcotic compound from the resinous gum secreted from the poppy plant was first formally isolated using alkaloid chemistry by the 21-year-old German pharmacist Friedrich Wilhelm Adam Sertürner. He named the substance morphine (after Morpheus, the Greek god of sleep, due to its sedative properties) when he later published his findings in 1806 and again in 1817. Sertürner was able to prove the analgesic and hypnotic effects of morphine through animal testing; he successfully demonstrated the ineffectiveness of opium by itself when the alkaloid compound was removed. His tests confirmed morphine’s alkaline qualities to the pharmaceutical industry, and was found to be 10 times more potent than processed opium. His work with morphine actually led to the establishment of alkaloid chemistry, a newfound branch of science.
Sertürner and Company was the first to market morphine to the public, and recognition of the substance’s therapeutic and sedative effects became widespread. It was the pharmacist’s drug of choice for treating several ailments ranging from chronic pain to alcohol and opium addiction. Morphine became available in standard dosages and was adopted by companies of the new pharmaceutical industry, including Merck. The invention of the hypodermic needle in 1853 further revolutionized morphine’s popularity and distribution. During the American Civil War (1861–1865), numerous men with chronic pain or other ailments became addicted to morphine as a result of extensive use of the substance to treat soldiers’ wounds, pain from trauma, and illnesses. The principal analgesics used on the battlefield were all opiates—opium, paregoric, laudanum, and morphine salts—because they were portable, nonflammable, and rapidly effective. Morphine sulfate was sprinkled into wounds, or the opiates were subcutaneously injected using hypodermic syringes. After the war, addicted veterans were known to have the “soldier’s disease,” and were called “morphinists” or “opium eaters.” Postwar addiction became a national health problem and thousands of men thought to have an addiction were denied pension.
By 1874, heroin (diacetylmorphine) had been synthesized from morphine; the new substance was found to be approximately 1.5 to 2.5 times more potent than morphine. Bayer would later market heroin to the public in 1898. Morphine and heroin were both found to be effective in suppressing coughs from tuberculosis and pneumonia, which were widespread diseases at the time. Even though morphine was being used to treat other substance addictions, pharmacists and physicians were recognizing that morphine was an even more addictive substance itself.
Following decades of social reform movements, it was not until the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act in 1914 that morphine (along with opium, heroin, cocaine, and their derivatives) was finally classified as a controlled substance in the United States, and its distribution, and possession became illegal. Morphine was still generously used in surgical procedures during the 1920s as a sedative in conjunction with more opiates and general anesthesia to induce deeper sedation. Too much of the substance can hinder respiration and cause death.
In 1925, morphine’s structural formula was discovered; because morphine was (and still is) considered to be a pharmaceutical standard, it has been extensively researched since its inception, leading to the discovery of more than 200 derivatives. By 1970, the Federal Controlled Substances Act would classify opium, its derivatives, and all parts of the opium poppy plant (with exception of the seed) as Schedule II Controlled Substances.
Morphine is still the prototype, even among all new medications for postoperative pain relief that are currently available, for which other analgesics are measured. Other derivatives have since been synthesized including dihydromorphine, dihydromorphinones, oxycodone, pethidine, and semi-synthetics derivatives of codeine such as benzylmorphine, dihydrocodeine, and ethylmorphine. Yet morphine is one of the most commonly abused analgesic narcotics worldwide, surpassed only by heroin.
Morphine remains the primary sought-after analgesic drug by heroin addicts. Most recently, morphine products within the U.S. have tripled, and morphine use has considerably increased. Morphine, especially its combination with other drugs or its derivatives (mostly heroin), has been the cause of numerous overdose deaths worldwide, and in some countries is the leading cause of accidental death. Accidental deaths caused by morphine abuse include Lenny Bruce, Steve Clark, Chris Farley, and Brad Renfro.
