Morphine is derived from the opium poppy plant, Papaver somniferum. Latex extracted from the immature seed pods contains approximately 12% morphine, an alkaloid. Morphine is used medically to treat moderate to severe pain and can be administered via several routes, but intravenous injection produces intense euphoria. Regular use leads to rapid development of physical and psychological dependence. Heroin was first synthesized by adding two acetyl groups to the morphine molecule, making it able to cross the blood-brain barrier more quickly than morphine and about three times stronger.

1. Opium Poppy: Papaver Somniferum
Julie Jackson

2. •Opium (lachryma papaveris), is the dried latex obtained from the opium
poppy, Papaver somniferum.
Opium contains approximately 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently
processed chemically to produce heroin for illegal drug trade.
•The latex also includes codeine.
•The traditional method of obtaining
the latex is to scratch ("score")
the immature seed pods (fruits) by
hand; the latex leaks out and dries to a
sticky yellowish residue that is later
scraped off. The modern method is to
harvest and process mature plants by
machine.
•Opium for illegal use is often converted
into heroin, which is less bulky,
making it easier to smuggle, which
multiplies its potency to approximately
twice that of morphine.

3. •Morphine is made from the
opium poppy and latex is gathered
from unripe poppy pods.
•Another method of
manufacturing morphine uses
poppy straw from the dried stem
and pods of the plant, then the
crushed poppy plant is treated
with sulphuric acid. The resulting
mixture goes through numerous
extraction processes. The final
alkaloids are precipitated
ammonium hydroxide or sodium
carbonate. This further purifies
morphine from other opium
alkaloids.

4. •The origins of morphine can be traced back
to 1522 when the scientist and alchemist
Paracelsus is said to have used laudanum, as a
pain killer.
•The popularity of laudanum increased with
the East India Company’s interest in opium
trade in 1757 and was eventually marketed as
a drug to cure alcohol and opium addiction.
It was only later that they realized that
morphine could be equally addictive.
• The drug was extensively used during the
American Civil War.
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2/09/23/stoned-in-the-ranks-drug-
and-alcohol-abuse-nothing-new-in-
military-culture/
•An important factor in the adoption of
morphine as a pain killer, was the invention
of the hypodermic needle in 1853.

5. •Morphine can be
used to treat a
number of ailments:
•Patients suffering from heart
attacks,
•Pain associated with surgery,
trauma and chronic pain like
cancer.
•It is used as general anesthesia, a
substance that puts you to sleep
if you need to have a surgery, so
that you don’t remember it.

6. •Morphine’s primary clinical use is to manage
moderately severe and severe pain.
•After heroin, morphine has the
greatest dependence liability of the
narcotic analgesics in common use.
•Morphine is administered by several
routes (injected, smoked, sniffed, or
swallowed); but when injected particularly
intravenously, morphine can produce intense
euphoria and a general state of well-being and
relaxation.
•Regular use can result in the rapid development
of tolerance to these effects.
•Profound physical and psychological
dependence can also rapidly develop, and
withdrawal sickness upon abrupt
cessation of heroin use; many of the
symptoms resemble those produced by a
case of moderately severe flu.

7. •Street names of morphine include
M, 13, Emma, cube, morf, mofo, dry grog, white
hop, uncle, coby, gold dust, love dust, monkey
dust, and many more.
• Morphine is marketed under
several brand names like
oxycodone
(Percodan), dihydromorphenone
(Dilaudid), and hydrocodone
(Vicodin). and many other brand
names.
•Morphine occurs as feathery,
white, and silky crystals; cubical
crystal masses; or white powdered
crystal and dissolves in water and
slightly in alcohol.

8. •Heroin was first synthesized by C.R. Alder Wright in 1874 by
adding two acetyl groups to the morphine molecule.
•When used in medicine it is typically used
to treat severe pain, such as that resulting
from a heart attack or a severe injury.
•The name "heroin" is only used when being
discussed in its illegal form.
•When it is used in a medical
environment, it is referred to
as Diamorphine and comes in
tablet or injectable form for the
same indications as morphine and
is often being preferred over
morphine due to its lower side-
effect profile

9. •The only significant difference between
Morphine and Heroin is that the acetyl
molecule allows heroin to cross the
blood-brain barrier more quickly than
ordinary morphine.
•In terms of dosage, heroin is about
three times stronger.
•One grain of heroin equals about three Heroin
Morphine
grains of morphine. Otherwise, they are
identical and there is no significant
difference that would justify heroin
being completely illegal (Schedule I)
while morphine is used routinely in
medicine. (Schedule II).
• They can be used interchangeably as
long as medical personnel follow
standard practices of medical care.

10. References:
http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/2011/andryscz_tyle/facts.htm
http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/rzepa/mim/drugs/html/morphine_text.htm
http://www.erowid.org/archive/rhodium/chemistry/opium.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/heroin/etc/history.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphine
http://thisiswarblog.wordpress.com/2012/09/23/stoned-in-the-ranks-
drug-and-alcohol-abuse-nothing-new-in-military-culture/