Timeline of Narcotics & Their Uses and Misuses

I believe that such a thing with a focus on pharmacology and medicinal chemistry would be helpful from a historical analysis standpoint.

and also following issues which are connected, such as how tuberculosis, pertussis and the like lit a fire, so to speak, under scientists which produced everything from hydromorphone to heroin to thebacon. The locale of development could very well also be a factor. I will start:

September 1803-March 1805 -- Paderborn, Germany apothecary Friedrich Wilhelm Adam Sertürner isolated morphine from opium, the first extraction of the active principle from a plant
1855 -- Hypodermic syringe is invented.
1874 -- The CA Alders-Wright organisation in Great Britain first synthesise diacetylmorphine (diamorphine, heroin, smack) as a result of research on the effects of different organic acids on morphine.
1914 -- Harrison Narcotics Tax Act
1920 -- Hydrocodone is invented in Germany
1931 -- Austria implements a comprehensive narcotics law, the Suchtgiftverordnung, which is based in part on the German Opiumgesetz of 1929.
1957 -- Pongratz & Zirm patent and begin marketing nicomorphine (3,6-dinicotinylmorphine) in Austria. It is named Vilan by manufacturer Lannacher Heilmittel, honouring a very high mountain in the Alps.
1971 -- The mu opioid receptor is discovered researchers in animal and human experiments involving, inter alia, dihydromorphine radiolabelled with tritium and levorphanol radiolabelled with Iodine 129. The other receptors follow very soon after.

 

Could rewind the timeline quite a bit more with opium use in the East

 

I remember learning about marijuana and how it contributed to the earliest prejudicial epithets about Mexico/Mexicans in the United States in sociology of racial and ethnic groups.

The same with Chinese/opium, African-Americans/cocaine at different times respectively.

 

Is this all specific to American Culture?

I ask that because I'm pretty sure Opium was actually fairly prevalent in mainstream Chinese culture and of course there are the likes of Sigmund Freud heavily using Cocaine.


Even in the US, I believe Cocaine and Heroin were used in medications like cough syrup prior to the timelines in your quote.

 

Yeah they definitely were. I actually thought the quote would have the Mexican marijuana problem way earlier too. But anyway, to answer: I believe that this pertains to American culture, yes.

 

Bayer made heroin at one time.

 

I love when my missus is on some narcotics.

 

No, in fact, something like 96 per cent of the semi-synthetics, 65-80 per cent of the synthetics were invented in Continental Europe, Germany, Austria, and Belgium being the biggest.

 

It wasn't exactly what I was questioning but I find this actually hard to believe...

Alexander Shulgin and David Nichols, both of American descant have sythesized the vast majority of psychedelics to my knowledge.

 

But not opioids, which is what the thread is about -- the only overlap between the two categories would have to be cyclorphan and cyclazocine . . . maybe ibogaine

 

My favourite side effect is that they make the patient love everybody if the dose is done right.

 

Gotcha, I was responding to a post discussing other drugs as well, hence I was unsure of the scope of your response.

 

I don't need to love everybody, just my friends.