OPIUM

Opium (poppy tears, lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from opium poppies (Papaver somniferum). Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an opiate alkaloid, which is most frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids, such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine . The latex is obtained by lacerating (or “scoring”) the immature seed pods or fruits See pic #1 ; the latex leaks out and dries to a sticky brown residue. This is scraped off the fruit. Meconium historically referred to related, weaker preparations made from other parts of the poppy or different species of poppies. Modern opium production is the culmination of millennia of production, in which the morphine content of the plants, methods of extraction and processing, and methods of consumption have become increasingly potent.

There were no legal restrictions on the importation or use of opium in the United States until the San Francisco, California, Opium Den Ordinance, which banned dens for public smoking of opium in 1875, a measure fueled by anti-Chinese sentiment and the perception that whites were starting to frequent the dens. This was followed by an 1891 California law requiring that narcotics carry warning labels and that their sales be recorded in a registry, amendments to the California Pharmacy and Poison Act in 1907 making it a crime to sell opiates without a prescription, and bans on possession of opium or opium pipes in 1909.

Opium is a naturally occurring substance found in the seeds of the opium poppy. Opium, which contains morphine, is extracted from the poppy seeds and used to produce heroin. While opium in it’s natural state is rarely sold in US markets , its by-product Heroin is abundant in most states. (also see Heroin )

Heroin is an illegal, highly addictive drug and its use is a serious problem in America. It is both the most abused and the most rapidly acting of the opiates.

Pure heroin is a white powder with a bitter taste. Most illicit heroin is sold as a white or brownish powder and is usually “cut” with other drugs or with substances such as sugar, starch, powdered milk, or quinine. It can also be cut with strychnine or other poisons. Because heroin abusers do not know the actual strength of the drug or its true contents, they are at risk of overdose or death. Another form of heroin known as “black tar” may be sticky like roofing tar or hard like coal, and its color may vary from dark brown to black. Street names for Heroin include Smack, H, Skag, Junk, Brown sugar, Horse, Mud and Black tar.

Methods of Use

Heroin is most often injected, however, high-purity heroin may also be snorted or smoked. Although smoking and sniffing heroin do not produce a “rush” as quickly or as intensely as intravenous injection, researchers have confirmed that all three forms of heroin administration are addictive.

Effects of Opium Use

The short-term effects of heroin abuse appear soon after a single dose and disappear in a few hours. After an injection of heroin, the user reports feeling a surge of euphoria (“rush”) accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin, a dry mouth, and heavy extremities. Following this initial euphoria, the user experiences an alternately wakeful and drowsy state. Mental functioning becomes clouded due to the depression of the central nervous system. Other effects that heroin may have on users include respiratory depression, constricted pupils and nausea. Effects of heroin overdose include slow and shallow breathing, clammy skin, convulsions, coma, and possible death.