Opiates

History of Opiates and Its Usage Today

According to history, opiates are believed to be initially grown in Switzerland during the Neolithic period. The plant, which was the possible source of these poppy seeds was known as Papaver. A lot of historians believe that the population in this area was the first to learn about the narcotic effect opiate had on an individual’s brain and body- and therefore they were the first users of opiates.

However, it was in the beginning of 18th century that scientist isolated codeine, paparvine and morphine from pure opium and they became the drug of choice in medicine. Doctors started using them as painkillers and more and when hypodermic needle was invented in the mid 80’s, doctors started using morphine as the most popular pain killer of that time all over in Europe.
However, with the beginning of 19th century the use of opiates climb the legal walls and a large number of populations in the United States started using it as a drug to get high. This is why the country’s Government started focusing on putting a stop on the non-medical use of opium not just in the US but also in China, who was the main supplier of this insidious drug.

Opiate Abuse and Addiction

Opiate addiction can start in quite an innocent and normal manner with a person taking a prescribed opiate drug for medical purposes. When a person takes opiates they produce artificial endorphins in the brain—giving the user a feeling of being high or in a state of euphoria. However, when a person continuously use opiates then these opiates start tricking the brain into stopping the production of these endorphins naturally. This is how the brain and the body become dependent on these drugs to create the endorphins that give the user a feeling of being high. This is how a person becomes addicted to these opiates.


Getting rid of opiate addiction is not easy because if an addicted body does not get its usual fix of drug it starts getting severe withdrawal symptoms that are extremely uncomfortable both physically and mentally. An addicted person develops a high tolerance for this dangerous drug and start taking it regularly in doses quite higher than are normally recommended. If a person does not take the drug at the time when his mind and body craves it, severe withdrawal symptoms follow. These include: sweating, nausea, chills and shivering, acute abdominal pain, headaches, severe body ache, diarrhea, insomnia, anxiety, extreme mood swings, depression, vomiting and hypertension. Drug rehab, may then be recommended.

Using Opiates Wisely

Even prescription drugs can be quite dangerous if not uses wisely. This is why it is extremely important to keep you in check and keep away from opiates that can lead to a dark and dangerous life of destruction.