Chemistry and History of Heroin - Research Paper Example

Heroin For many people, heroin may simply be a street drug that has created an industry worth billions of dollars, as well as a drug that has claimed countless number of human lives. However, in reality, heroin is one of the most well-known, most abused, and misunderstood drug (Moraes 1). As a member of the opiate groups of chemicals, along with morphine, opium, codeine, among others, which are mostly used as cough suppressants and pain-killers since the ancient times, its medical use has been strongly established and even necessitated by doctors and pharmacists (Carnwath and Smith 138). When used in good hands, heroin is able to alleviate extreme pain for chronic or acute pain sufferers, especially since it is one of the most potent ones ever to be used in the medical industry (DuPont and Ford 181). In order to fully understand heroin, including its effects on the human body, the implications of its misuse, and how its industry has proliferated for a long time, all aspects regarding the drug would be enumerated and discussed to provide unbiased information about the drug. Chemistry and History of Heroin Heroin is the brand name given by the large German chemical company, Bayer, to the chemical diacetylmorphine, or its crystalline salt form (with hydrochloride) in 1898 (Brezina 5). The drug was initially artificially synthesized from raw opium by Augustus Matthiessen a German chemist, and he brought the process to London, England when he came to work as a lecturer at St. Mary’s Hospital (Carnwath and Smith 15). The process was further refined by his chief English assistant, the chemist C.R. Alder Wright in 1874, through the process of acetylation (Moraes 10). He was able to do this by boiling morphine in weak acetic anhydride. However, despite this discovery and other opiate drug derivatives Wright was able to synthesize, there were no recorded medical usages for all of them until some German companies were able to get hold of the production methods, some decades later. Diacetylmorphine and its crystalline forms were never marketed for human use until Bayer acquired its rights to the drug (Carnwath and Smith 16). It was originally made to replace morphine, and was marketed as its non-addictive or less-addictive form. The name was coined from the drug’s potential to have anti-tuberculosis effects, making it a “hero” for the sufferers of the lung malady. It was found to have cough-suppressing and pain-relieving properties, as well as not leaving harsh bodily harm to those that were prescribed it with, which made heroin a good choice as “gentle” drugs for chronic sufferers (Carnwath and Smith 138). Structure and Physical Characteristics Diamorphine, diacetylmorphine, and morphine acetate are all synonymous with heroin (Carnwath and Smith 16). It has a chemical formula of C21H23NO5, has a molecular weight of 369.4g/mol, or roughly 369.4 Daltons (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, EMCDDA). Its melting point is at 173?C, and boiling point at 273?C, which makes its detection in some surfaces easy, as water and other fluids would tend to boil out first before heroin would evaporate (Abadinsky 241). Because heroin is essentially a morphine derivative, it also has ring structures very much like its precursor, which has two diacetyl ester linkages at the third and sixth carbons. This structure allows the chemical to be easily modified, allowing for the different types of heroin being produced today (EMCDDA). Depending on the need for purity and the amount of heroin needed to be synthesized, different opiate extraction methods are deployed, which accounts for such forms as the salt or crystalline forms, and the brown, tar forms of heroin, which has far more opiate derivatives than the much purer crystalline form (Moraes 25). While heroin itself does not have any dire effects in the body, it does become metabolized into morphine, which attributes to it having similar effects to the said chemical once it gets taken into the body. Heroin Family of Chemicals As the name implies, opiates are derivatives from the dried sap of the poppy flower, Papaver somniferum, from which opium comes from (Moraes 8). On its own, opium has many naturally-occurring alkaloids, around 40 of which are the most known ones used in synthesizing pain-killers or analgesics. When used on its own, opium is considered to be relatively safe, mainly due to the presence of many alkaloids that have synergistic or antagonistic effects with one another, which makes opium not much of an addictive drug. However, upon extraction of these various opium alkaloids, the increased concentration of the separated chemicals increases their toxicity or effectiveness when used. Among the members of the alkaloids found in opium are morphine, codeine, thebaine, and oxycodone, which are all used as pain killers for chronic and acute pain sufferers, especially patients that underwent surgeries (Brezina 6). Morphine itself composes roughly 40% of the alkaloid content in opium, and this accounts for the relatively easy extraction of pure morphine from the dried saps (Fox and Whitesell 605). With the relatively easy collection of morphine from raw opium, this also translates to much more heroin being synthesized, and thus a greater product output. Physical Effects on Body While the chemical itself is inert, heroin allows for the transport of morphine and codeine into the bloodstream and into the brain, adding to its noted euphoric effects into the body. If the drug enters the bloodstream, it becomes even more potent due to its acetyl groups that are highly-fat soluble, allowing it to pass through cell membranes, especially the nerve cells (Moraes 2). The heroin does not get metabolized into morphine until its acetyl groups get removed from its structure. Thus the perceived euphoric effects of heroin inside the body are in actuality the effects of morphine after the heroin was anabolically metabolized. Among symptoms of excess ingestion of heroin and the subsequent formation of morphine in the body are: respiratory irritation; bronchospasm; double vision; nausea and vomiting; constipation; euphoria; dizziness; edema; sleepiness; coma; or in excessive usage, death (Occupational Safety and Health Administration, US Department of Labor). Heroin addicts and those with withdrawal symptoms alike suffer from toxicity, nervous system disturbances, narcosis, asthma, and even pulmonary edema, aside from the other symptoms of excess heroin in the bloodstream (DuPont and Ford 177). However, with regards to the personality of heroin users, they are more or less normal, until they feel the need to get their next drug fix, and if denied of their morphine rush these addicts become irritable, selfish, and uncomfortable. Street Use Since 1926, heroin use has been completely illegal in the US, due to the government’s belief that it does not have any good medicinal use, plus the addictive effects weigh much worse than its potential benefits (Moraes 9). In some countries, heroin is restricted in some hospitals; however, due to the prevalence of illegal drug trades, as well as major plantations in Afghanistan, some countries in South East Asia and South America, there is still a large market and source for most of the illegally circulating forms of heroin on the black and underground market (EMCDD). While another opiate drug called methadone could still give the same effects as that of heroine, most drug users still prefer the latter due to its stronger effects, as opposed to the less addictive methadone (DuPont and Ford 177). Apart from the stringent restrictions of the availability of heroin, the drug market could very much dictate the prices, which are on the average around $172 per gram (EMCDD). The dependence of users on heroin just to become normal and functional, while getting “high” at the same time feeds the drug cartels that take advantage in the dysfunctional state of addicts by dictating the prices of heroin, eventually turning the “junkies” into lives in crime just to spend for their narcotic fix (Moraes 14). The cycle just goes on and on, with the drug market getting much more creative in evading the law and helping the prevalence of heroin addiction in the society. Summary Heroin or diacetylmorphine is a member of the opiate groups of chemicals, along with morphine, opium, codeine, among others. These are the some of the most potent alkaloid components of opium, making it a useful drug in suppressing coughs and numbing pain since the ancient times. Heroin is a potent drug that could help alleviate extreme pain when used properly, however its misuse has led to it having a negative connation to the general public, mainly due to heroin addicts. Due to the numerous physical and mental effects that heroin causes to its chronic abusers, the drug has been marked as an illegal substance that must be fully controlled, but this did not stop illegal drug markets in feeding the demands of numerous substance abusers around the world. The incessant need of heroin addicts to fulfill their need of getting a drug fix and a high has caused many to live in a life of crimes, which creates problems in societal order as well as prevents the cessation of drug cartels that have greater control over the addicts by dictating the heroin prices in the black market. Works Cited Abadinsky, Howard. Drug Use and Abuse: A Comprehensive Introduction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2010. Print. Brezina, Corona. Heroin: The Deadly Addiction. New York, NY: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2009. Print. Carnwath, Tom and Ian Smith. The Heroin Century. London: Routledge, 2002. Print. DuPont, Robert L. and Betty Ford. The Selfish Brain: Learning from Addiction. Center City, MN: Hazelden Publishing, 2000. Print. European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). EMCDDA - Heroin. 14 September 2011. Web. 28 November 2012. Fox, Marye Anne and James K. Whitesell. Organic Chemistry, Third Edition. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2004. Print. Moraes, Francis. The Little Book of Heroin. Berkeley, CA: Ronin Publishing, 2000. Print. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, US Department of Labor. Chemical Sampling Information - Heroin. 9 May 2006. Web. 28 November 2012. Read More