Opium Use. the Biological Facts.?
Question by Nadeem S: Opium Use. The Biological Facts.?
Hi,
What are some biological facts for Opium?
Like, i know there is a drug called MORPHINE extracted from Opium and is used to make pain killers and stuff, also the poppies from Opium plants can be used to make poppy pad pies 🙂
Is there any other use for Opium besides using it just to get high?
Like what might also be some medical reasons for the use of Opium?
– Thank you!
Best answer:
Answer by Pollifax
Morphine is a painkiller. Morphine is the more isolated chemical that is in opium.
Answer by RR1973
Let’s start from the beginning:
There are many kinds of POPPY flowers, but one particular strain – called papavaram somniferum – is used to make opium (not vice versa). When the petals of the poppy flower fall there is a short window of time when the pod can be scored and the sap inside can be collected. After drying out this sap is called “raw opium” which can later be processed into other things. When later the pod dries, one can extract the seeds out of it – these are known as “poppy seeds” which are used in cakes, bagels etc.
Opium is known to be used for 10 millennia for medical purposes. Besides its use as a pain-killer it is also a natural constipator and was used since antiquity against diarrhea.
Morphine is the MAIN active ingredient of opium but certainly not the only one. Codeine is also an ingredient of opium and there are several other materials used in the medical industry. Many other “drugs” are derivative products of opium and included in the opioid family. These are divided into several groups:
Natural – i.e. directly extracted from opium, e.g. morphine, codeine and thebaine.
Semi-synthetic – i.e. a chemically processed product of a natural opiate, e.g. Diacetylmorphine (heroin), Ethylmorphine (dionine), Buprenorphine (subutex) etc.
Fully synthetic – i.e. imitate the structure and action of morphine alkaloids even though they are not produced from it, e.g. Fentanyl, Methadone etc.
Hope this organized it a little bit for you 🙂
More Methadone Drug Information…