Opium was for many centuries the principal painkiller known to medicine and was used in various forms and under various names. Laudanum, for example, was an alcoholic tincture (dilute solution) of opium that was used in European medical practice as an analgesic and sedative. Physicians relied on paregoric, a camphorated solution of opium, to treat diarrhea by relaxing the gastrointestinal tract. The narcotic effects of opium are mainly attributable to morphine, which was first isolated about 1804. In 1898 it was discovered that treating morphine with acetic anhydride yields heroin, which is four to eight times as potent as morphine in both its pain-killing properties and its addictive potential. The other alkaloids naturally present in opium are much weaker; codeine, for example, is only one-sixth as potent as morphine and is used mainly for cough relief. Since the late 1930s, various synthetic drugs have been developed that possess the analgesic properties of morphine and heroin. These drugs, which include meperidine (Demerol), methadone, levorphonal, and many others, are known as synthetic opioids. They have largely replaced morphine and heroin in the treatment of severe pain.

The use of diethyl ether and chloroform for general anesthesia began in 1846–1847, and rapidly displaced the use of opiates and tropane alkaloids from Solanaceae due to their relative safety. [103] Poppy seeds are a common and flavorsome topping for breads and cakes. One gram of poppy seeds contains up to 33 micrograms of morphine and 14 micrograms of codeine, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in the United States formerly mandated that all drug screening laboratories use a standard cutoff of 300 nanograms per milliliter in urine samples. A single poppy seed roll (0.76grams of seeds) usually did not produce a positive drug test, but a positive result was observed from eating two rolls. A slice of poppy seed cake containing nearly five grams of seeds per slice produced positive results for 24 hours. Such results are viewed as false positive indications of drug use and were the basis of a legal defense. [117] [118] On November 30, 1998, the standard cutoff was increased to 2000 nanograms (two micrograms) per milliliter. [119] Confirmation by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry will distinguish amongst opium and variants including poppy seeds, heroin, and morphine and codeine pharmaceuticals by measuring the morphine:codeine ratio and looking for the presence of noscapine and acetylcodeine, the latter of which is only found in illicitly produced heroin, and heroin metabolites such as 6-monoacetylmorphine. [120] Harvesting and processing [ edit ] Harvesting opium Benjamin Pui-Nin Mo & E. Leong Way (October 1, 1966). "An Assessment Of Inhalation As A Mode Of Administration Of Heroin By Addicts". Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 154 (1): 142–151. PMID 5924312 . Retrieved June 6, 2007.Hardening of Canadian attitudes toward Chinese opium users and fear of a spread of the drug into the white population led to the effective criminalization of opium for nonmedical use in Canada between 1908 and the mid-1920s. [92] Recently, more potent opioids such as fentanyl and carfentanyl have been found "cut" into heroin sold on the streets, and can be deadly to unsuspecting users. Death have been reported. Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (841–926)". Saudi Aramco World. January 2002 . Retrieved January 12, 2008. Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy (2009). Opium: Uncovering the Politics of the Poppy. Harvard University Press. pp.9–. ISBN 978-0-674-05134-8. Pure heroin is a white powder that tastes bitter. Because heroin abusers do not know the actual strength of the drug or its true contents, they are at risk of overdose or death.

Smith RD (October 1980). "Avicenna and the Canon of Medicine: a millennial tribute". The Western Journal of Medicine. 133 (4): 367–70. PMC 1272342. PMID 7051568. Extensive textual and pictorial sources also show that poppy cultivation and opium consumption were widespread in Safavid Iran [42] and Mughal India. [43] England [ edit ] The earliest clear description of the use of opium as a recreational drug in China came from Xu Boling, who wrote in 1483 that opium was "mainly used to aid masculinity, strengthen sperm and regain vigor", and that it "enhances the art of alchemists, sex and court ladies". He also described an expedition sent by the Ming dynasty Chenghua Emperor in 1483 to procure opium for a price "equal to that of gold" in Hainan, Fujian, Zhejiang, Sichuan and Shaanxi, where it is close to the western lands of Xiyu. A century later, Li Shizhen listed standard medical uses of opium in his renowned Compendium of Materia Medica (1578), but also wrote that "lay people use it for the art of sex," in particular the ability to "arrest seminal emission". This association of opium with sex continued in China until the end of the 19th century.Anil Aggrawal (1995). "CHAPTER 2: THE STORY OF OPIUM". Narcotic Drugs. New Delhi: National Book Trust. ISBN 978-81-237-1383-0. Fueled in part by the 1729 ban on madak, which at first effectively exempted pure opium as a potentially medicinal product, the smoking of pure opium became more popular in the 18th century. In 1736, the smoking of pure opium was described by Huang Shujing, involving a pipe made from bamboo rimmed with silver, stuffed with palm slices and hair, fed by a clay bowl in which a globule of molten opium was held over the flame of an oil lamp. This elaborate procedure, requiring the maintenance of pots of opium at just the right temperature for a globule to be scooped up with a needle-like skewer for smoking, formed the basis of a craft of "paste-scooping" by which servant girls could become prostitutes as the opportunity arose. [47] Chinese diaspora in the West [ edit ] Hideyuki Takano; The Shore Beyond Good and Evil: A Report from Inside Burma's Opium Kingdom (2002, Kotan, ISBN 0-9701716-1-7) Recreational use of opium was part of a civilized and mannered ritual, akin to an East Asian tea ceremony, prior to the extensive prohibitions that came later. [44] In places of gathering, often tea shops, or a person's home servings of opium were offered as a form of greeting and politeness. Often served with tea (in China) and with specific and fine utensils and beautifully carved wooden pipes. The wealthier the smoker, the finer and more expensive material used in ceremony. [44] The image of seedy underground, destitute smokers were often generated by anti-opium narratives and became a more accurate image of opium use following the effects of large scale opium prohibition in the 1880s. [44] Prohibitions in China [ edit ] Heroin (diacetylmorphine) is derived from the morphine alkaloid found in opium and is roughly 2 to 3 times more potent. A highly addictive drug, heroin exhibits euphoric ("rush"), anxiolytic and analgesic central nervous system properties.