Opium Study Sheet
Opium Study Sheet
Opium
General term for all opiates
Opiate
Any alkaloid found in the opium poppy plant
Alkaloid
Organic compound containing basic nitrogen atoms
Opium poppy plant
Also known as common garden poppy
Produces poppy seeds
Grows large green pods before blooming
If cut, latex leaks out
Once latex dries (oxidizes) it becomes smokeable tar
This tar is what the Chinese bought and what caused the opium wars
Refined raw opium
Morphine
Always present in opium
Pure morphine created by cooking opium with several chemicals including lye and ammonia
Morphine is the world’s go-to pain killer for severe pain
Affect on Brain
Morphine mimics endorphins
Endorphins
Feel-good chemicals naturally-manufactured in the brain when the body experiences pain or stress (Natural opiates of the body)
Inhibit neurons from firing therefore eliminating bad feelings
Plugs into endorphin receptors
Released in instances such as exercise, labor, or when stressed
Leads to euphoria and analgesia
Morphine is usually more powerful because have control of when to use it
Leads to addiction
Addiction
Reward Pathway (Limbic System)
Very Addictive
Parts of brain involved
Limbic System
Thalamus
Hypothalamus
Amygdala
Hippocampus
In cerebellum
Prefrontal Cortex
How it’s made-
Opium is the white latex substance exuded from from the opium poppy, when they are slit open at harvest time. When dried, it turns brown (oxidizes) and becomes sticky and hard (from water loss.) People smoke this alone, or process it further into morphine base. The poppy species that contains opium is Papaver somniferum.
Morphine is one of many different chemicals present in raw opium (codiene, morphine, papaverine, and others are all naturally occuring in opium.) Morphine is refined by cooking raw opium with chemicals like lye, and ammonia. Pure morphine is the world standard of painkillers, and generally the number one choice of doctors for treating severe pain.
Heroin
Opium
General term for all opiates
Opiate
Any alkaloid found in the opium poppy plant
Alkaloid
Organic compound containing basic nitrogen atoms
Opium poppy plant
Also known as common garden poppy
Produces poppy seeds
Grows large green pods before blooming
If cut, latex leaks out
Once latex dries (oxidizes) it becomes smokeable tar
This tar is what the Chinese bought and what caused the opium wars
Refined raw opium
Morphine
Always present in opium
Pure morphine created by cooking opium with several chemicals including lye and ammonia
Morphine is the world’s go-to pain killer for severe pain
Affect on Brain
Morphine mimics endorphins
Endorphins
Feel-good chemicals naturally-manufactured in the brain when the body experiences pain or stress (Natural opiates of the body)
Inhibit neurons from firing therefore eliminating bad feelings
Plugs into endorphin receptors
Released in instances such as exercise, labor, or when stressed
Leads to euphoria and analgesia
Morphine is usually more powerful because have control of when to use it
Leads to addiction
Addiction
Reward Pathway (Limbic System)
Very Addictive
Parts of brain involved
Limbic System
Thalamus
Hypothalamus
Amygdala
Hippocampus
In cerebellum
Prefrontal Cortex
How it’s made-
Opium is the white latex substance exuded from from the opium poppy, when they are slit open at harvest time. When dried, it turns brown (oxidizes) and becomes sticky and hard (from water loss.) People smoke this alone, or process it further into morphine base. The poppy species that contains opium is Papaver somniferum.
Morphine is one of many different chemicals present in raw opium (codiene, morphine, papaverine, and others are all naturally occuring in opium.) Morphine is refined by cooking raw opium with chemicals like lye, and ammonia. Pure morphine is the world standard of painkillers, and generally the number one choice of doctors for treating severe pain.
Heroin