Heroin

History

As long ago as 3400 bc, opium poppies were growing in Mesopotamia. The poppy plant is native to Asia and to the Middle East, is able to grow to 3 or 4 feet tall, and blooms with white, red, or purple flowers. When the poppies are blooming, the petals fall off, leaving behind a seedpod the size of an egg. When the seed-pod is cut open, a milky white sap leaks out. Upon drying, the sap turns to a thick brown resin known as opium. A chemical analysis of opium reveals that two elements account for a majority of its action: codeine and morphine. C. R. Alder Wright, an English chemist, is credited with first creating heroin. In 1874 at St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, England, he had originally been researching the combination of morphine and a combination of acids. Boiling anhydrous morphine alkaloid and acetic anhydride for numerous hours created diacetylmorphine—a much more powerful form of morphine. Heroin did not become popular until 23 years after Wright's experiments when Felix Hoffman reproduced diacetylmorphine, instead of the codeine as he had intended. Bayer pharmaceuticals renamed the diacetylmorphine Hoffman created as heroin; this new product was actually close to twice the potency of morphine. Today's heroin is stronger than when first developed and can be 3 to 10 times the potency of morphine. Heroin has a greater potency than morphine because it is more lipid soluble than morphine. In addition, heroin travels to the brain faster and in higher amounts than morphine. The popularity of heroin spread rapidly and from 1898 to 1910. It was used as an ingredient in children's cough medicine, and ironically, as a cure for morphine addiction. Later, when Bayer Pharmaceuticals realized heroin actually converts to morphine after crossing the blood-brain barrier, its abuse potential was discovered, and its use in medicines was discontinued. Originally, when [Page 457]heroin was prescribed and sold for medical reasons, casual users could legally obtain heroin. In 1914, the Harrison Narcotic Act was passed as the first federal effort to regulate production, sales, and purchase of addictive substances. In 1924, the U.S. Congress passed additional laws that banned any contact with heroin, including the sale, import, or creation of the drug. The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 divided drugs into five schedules. They range from Schedule I with the highest abuse potential to Schedule V with a low potential for abuse. Heroin is classified as a Schedule I substance and has no current medical use. The only legal use for a Schedule I substance in the United States is for experimental or research purposes. The Drug Enforcement Agency is responsible for enforcement of these schedules and penalties. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, there were 338,000 current heroin users in 2006.

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