“What matters most is what’s on the inside!”
The opium poppy gets its name from the chemical compounds called opioids, which are the chemicals that create a class of drugs. Poppies are small flowers with a milky sap and rounded seed capsules that contain alkaloids.
Morphine is a pain reliever that is used to treat moderate to severe chronic pain. Chronic pain is when an individual will continue to feel pain after the cause of the pain has been gone for several months. Morphine is such a powerful painkiller that people have been known to get addicted very quickly.
When and who discovered Morphine?
In 1803, Morphine was discovered by Frederich Serturner in Germany and was one of the first drugs to be isolated from a plant. He was an uneducated 21-year-old pharmacist’s assistant. He was very curious about the opium poppy so, in his spare time, he would conduct experiments to isolate the organic alkaloid compound. Once the compound was removed, the poppy flower had no effect on animals, but the compound itself made the animals sleepy. Through further experiments, he discovered pain relieving properties that existed within the compound. Therefore, the alkaloid compound within the opium poppy is responsible for the Morphine we have today.
Due to Serturner’s discovery of isolating organic alkaloids from a certain plant, scientists were able to repeat his technique and create aconitine from monkshood, quinine from Peruvian bark, and many other drugs.
The Opioid crisis:
**Fun Facts:
- The name “Morphine” came from the Greek god “Morpheus,” the god of dreams.
- It takes more than 2.5 acres of poppies to produce about 20 lbs of raw opium.
- Afghanistan is the world capital for opium.
Sources:
https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis
Very interesting! Good findings!
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