Heroin is a derivative of morphine synthesized by a simple aceylation reaction of the parent compound in a manner almost identically to aspirin. It was originally intended to wean morphine addicts from the drug, but has since become a much bigger problem than morphine. The name is derived from "a hero" for it's supposed effect of saving morphine addicts. Heroin is an illegal opiate drug made from the seeds of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum. The opium poppy is a plant found in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and parts of Central and South America. To harvest opium, the seed pod of the poppy is cut and a juice flows out. The main ingredient that is extracted from raw opium is morphine. Morphine is easily converted to heroin by a chemical process.Currently, heroin has no real medicinal value and is one of the most abused narcotics ever synthesized, being responsible for the destruction of many lives. Heroin addiction is also associated with a high risk of AIDS, due to sharing of needles used to inject solutions of the drug.
History and Use.
6000-year-old Summerian texts refer to the opium poppy as the 'joy plant'. It is thought Arab traders took opium to China in about the 7th or 8th century AD where it was used as a medicine until about the 17th century where it was realized it could be smoked. In later years the Portuguese and later the British were supplying China with most of its opium, making Britain (and mainly a company called the East India Company) the world's largest dealer. It was sold in India to be smuggled into China, making it entirely legal from the British side. The Chinese government took to destroying British opium imports before they reached China which eventually sparked two short wars and in the treaties that followed Britain was given Hong Kong, extra trading rights and sixty million pounds in compensation for lost opium stocks. During Victorian times, taking opium in the form a laudanum (opium dissolved in alcohol) and in pill form became very popular among all the classes.
