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Opium is obtained from the latex of unripe seedpods of Papaver somniferum and to a lesser extent from Papaver bracteatum and P. setigerum. Opium was already known in antiquity and was described in the Travels of Odysseus as the nepenthe in the Land of the Lotus Eaters. Thebaine, one of the alkaloids in opium, derives its name from the Egyptian city of Thebes, referring to the explicit description in the "therapeutic papyrus of Thebes" (Ebers’ papyrus). Opium has been used for thousands of years by man as an analgesic, anti-diarrhoeal and anti-stomach ache agent and as a means for murder and suicide. It is also widely used for calming babies. It had great military importance as a pain-killer for casualties on the battlefield. It was an essential ingredient of old remedies such as theriac, mithridate, philonium and diascordium. Opium can be eaten or drunk as opium tincture. Laudanum is obtained by mixing opium with alcohol. Paregoric is obtained by mixing opium with alcohol (sherry, port or Madeira wine), camphor and calcium salts. Cinnamon, (oil of) cloves, saffron and/or nutmeg are also often added. Combinations with henbane (Hyoscyamus niger), mandrake
(mandragora) and/or calomel (mercury chloride) were popular. Smoking of opium arose later, after the popularisation of tobacco as a stimulant. Massive quantities were legally imported into Europe, principally from Turkey (then the best quality, 12% morphine). In England imports of opium between 1827 and 1869 rose from 41 tons to 127 tons per year. The most familiar varieties were Dover powder and chlorodyne. Dover powder was named after Thomas Dover, a colourful figure who was an apprentice of Sydenham and better known as the rescuer of Alexander Selkirk after his survival on the Juan Fernandez islands (basis of Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe). Chlorodyne was prepared from a chloroform extract of opium mixed with cannabis tincture and later with peppermint and caramel. In 1730 opium was produced for the first time in England, through the agency of Dr. Alston, a professor of botany. Large sums of money and gold medals were paid out for better yields of the white poppy, especially for those grown in the Fens, a low-lying marshland in Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. Opium was produced perfectly legally on a large scale in British India and exported to China (cf. opium wars). The attitude to "drugs", including not only opium, but also, for example, cocaine has changed markedly in our society. It should not be forgotten that it is only since 1903 that Coca-Cola was no longer allowed to contain cocaine. Before that a glass of Coca Cola contained approximately 60 mg of cocaine. The cocaine-containing Vin Mariani was also very popular at this same period. It is still not so long ago that Brompton cocktail, a mixture of heroin, cocaine and alcohol, was used for terminally ill cancer patients.
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Raw opium is a complex mixture and contains among other things the alkaloids codeine, noscapine, thebaine, morphine and papaverine. In 1806 Friedrich Wilhelm Adam Sertürner, a German pharmacist’s assistant, isolated morphine for the first time. It appeared to be a nitrogen-containing base, which was revolutionary, as it was thought at that time that all organic substances were acids. The hunt was on for other alkaloids, such as strychnine, discovered in 1877, caffeine in 1820, nicotine in 1829, codeine in 1832, thebaine in 1835 and papaverine in 1848. Since the isolation of morphine by Sertürner, 44 alkaloids have been isolated from the opium poppy. Isolation of the most important constituent of opium thereafter made it possible to administer an accurate dosage (raw opium exhibited great batch to batch variation of active ingredients). Heroin is a semisynthetic derivative compound (diacetylmorphine) obtained from morphine and acetic acid. Heroin (from the German "heroisch" (heroic)) was initially synthesised in London in 1874, but thereafter was improved by Mr Dreser of Bayer in 1898. It appeared to be an addictive without equal. The chemical derivative etorphine, which appeared to be some 10,000 times more potent than morphine, was developed in 1960.
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During World War II the Germans no longer had access to the poppy fields of Turkey. Alleviation of pain was enormously important during the war. Adolf Hitler forced German chemists to synthesise a morphine substitute. An active white crystalline powder was developed and named "Adolophine" after Adolf and after the analgesic properties ("a-dolor: no pain). The Americans altered the name to "dolophine". In 1965 this was released for clinical use in heroin addiction under the name methadone. This compound should permit the heroin dose to be reduced or even totally stopped, though other problems arise. It is advisable to familiarise oneself with the symptoms of overdosing (coma and miosis). Narcan® (naloxone) is used as antidote. LAAM (laevo-alpha-acetyl-methadol) is a long-acting methadone analogue. Methadone and laevomethadyl acetate are two µ-opioid agonists. Since methadone causes a mild "high", there is a risk of addiction to this compound. It should be possible to get round this by using buprenorphine mixed with naloxone (Suboxone®). Naltrexone is an opiate antagonist that is likewise used (also in the treatment of alcoholism). An injectable form of naltrexone (Naltrel®) exists for helping people to kick the habit. [ "Kicking" is thought to refer to the convulsions of the legs, a symptom during acute deprivation].
