Opiates

In short

Opiates are substances extracted from the poppy plant (Latin: papaver somniferum). By carving the unripe pod and drying the milk which comes out, raw opium is obtained. Morphine is derived from this raw opium, and heroine is made by chemically processing morphine.

Opium is the collective name for a variety of opiates including morphine, codeine, thebaine, papaverine and noscapine.

• Addictive? Generally occurs quite quickly and is then large, both physically and psychologically.
• Increasingly more needed for the same effect? Yes.
• Short-term effects: Reduction of pain and feelings of anxiety, brief euphoria, dulled emotions, constipation. Duration of effect differs per type of opiate.
• Long-term effects: Indifference towards her/himself and the environment.
• Important: Risk of malnutrition and self-neglect with increased chances of infection as a result. When injected, extra risk of overdose and/or infection (HIV, aids, hepatitis)
  

What are opiates?

Opiates are chemicals extracted from the poppy plant (Latin: papaver somniferum). By carving the unripe pod and drying the milk which is oozed, raw opium is obtained. Morphine is extracted from the raw opium, and heroine is made by chemically processing the morphine.

Opium is the collective name for a variety of opiates including morphine, codeine, thebaine, papaverine and noscapine. There are also synthetically prepared opiates with methadone being most familiar.

Opiates are related to painkilling chemicals (endorphins) which are naturally produced in man’s brain.

What is the effect?

The use of opiates slows both respiration and heart rate. The body temperature drops slightly. The pupils strongly contract. Opiates reduce the operation of the intestines and the sphincter muscles. The sex drive can also be diminished. In the beginning, the user can suffer from vomiting, headache, dizziness, nausea, itching and a strange feeling in the head. The numbing effect of morphine is why it is administered as a strong painkiller after operations.

What are the risks of use?

In addition to physical and psychological dependence, the use of opiates involves the following risks.

• Overdose, not infrequently with death as a consequence. The slowed breathing induced by opiates can be lethal. An overdose can have different causes: an overly high dose is taken all at once, the same dose is taken as earlier but after a period of abstinence (non-use), being surprised by an unusual degree of purity.
• Inflammation and infection as a result of careless and unhygienic needle use.
• Given that opiates suppress pain complaints, an illness may not be detected or only be detected when it is too late.
• The use of opiates disrupts the menstrual cycle; sometimes menstruation disappears altogether.
• Newborn babies of opiate-using mothers have been found to show symptoms of withdrawal.
• The combination of opiates with other anaesthetizing substances is dangerous because the substances intensify the effects of each other. This can have deadly consequences.

And then this

Some people that receive methadone treatment often misuse and take it intravenously in a liquid form. This can cause phlebitis very fast. The dangerous thing about opiates is that the positive effects are simultaneously the seed for the negative: the relaxing effects quickly lead to forms of indifference (for example, one can stop being interested in the harm that he’s causing to himself by using drugs). A number of the compounds in opium can be used to produce very strong, half-synthetic opiates such a fentanyl and etorphine.