1 - A Brief History of Opioid Misuse and Addiction

Summary

Opium, manufactured from the sap of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), has been cultivated by humans for centuries. It has been used, in one form or another, for medicinal as well as recreational purposes, and is the precursor to all modern-day opiate pharmaceutical agents. Morphine, the active ingredient in opium, was isolated from opium in 1803, and very quickly became widely used as strong painkiller. As a result of its effectiveness and widespread use many people began to become addicted to the medication. In an attempt to create a safer and less addictive alternative to morphine, heroin was synthesized from morphine in 1874 and marketed by pharmaceutical company Bayer as a morphine substitute, and so the modern world’s struggle with opioid misuse continued. Over a century ago the world recognized that opioid addiction was a significant problem that needed to be addressed, and yet today we are faced with an escalating epidemic of opioid misuse and addiction, a world in which few, if any of us, have remained unscathed. This chapter focuses on the specific factors which have led to the exponential increase in opioid misuse throughout the world over the last century