Thousands of years ago the opium poppy was found to yield a powerful substance .In small doses it had a sedative effect and produced , in larger doses it had a hypnotic effect and induced sleep , in still larger doses it had a narcotic or analgesic effect and rendered the user insensitive to pain. This substance-opium became , through the centuries , one of the principal medicines for relieving pain , it was one of mankind's first narcotics . Narcotics are drugs that produce relief from pain , a state of stupor or sleep , and eventually addiction , or physical dependence. Since their main therapeutic use is for pain relief , such drugs are often called narcotic analgesics.
In 1803 the alkaloid compound in opium responsible for its painkilling effect was discovered . It was called morphine after Morpheus , the greek god of dreams. After the invention of the hypodermic needle in 1853 the easy availability of morphine injections led to serious problems of abuse and addictions. In an effort to find a chemical relative of morphine that possessed its painkilling abilities but not its addictive power , chemists discovered diacetylmorphine in 1898 . This drug appeared to be such a promising alternative that it was considered a "heroine" in the war against pain. The term persisted , and was shortened to "heroin" in common usage. Although it was several times more effective than morphine against pain , heroin was found to be even more addicting and dangerous than morphine. Thus , while morphine has become the most widely prescribed narcotic today , the manufacture , sale , or importation of heroin is totally forbidden in the United states.
Modern narcotics are either opium derivatives or synthetic drugs . those derived from opium are known as opiates , these include morphine and codeine . those produced synthetically are known as opioids , and include meperidine and methadone.
Narcotics are the most powerful painkillers available. They not only relieve pain but also seem to reduce the suffering , worry , fear , and panic associated with severe pain . They also have other therapeutic uses. Codeine is used in cough mixtures because it suppresses coughing . Methadone is used in the treatment of heroin addiction since it blocks the addict's cravings for heroin , however, methadone itself is addictive . Apomorphine is used to produce vomiting in cases of poisoning from substances taken orally.
Narcotic is also used to describe illegal drugs generally for example the first federal attempt to deal with drug abuse was named the 1914 harrison narcotics Act. Usually included in this less precise use of the term are drugs derived from the hemp plant family , such as hashish and marijuana , amphetamines , and marijuana , mescaline , and peyote.
Other narcoticlike drugs are illegally created in laboratories by altering slightly the molecular structure of the addictive drug . These altered drugs are known as analogs , dubbed "designer drugs", and they produce much the same effect as the original . However, new drugs created by this method have unforeseeable and possibly dangerous consequences.
"References : Britannica Encyclopedia"
"If You Like This post Make Sure That You Follow Me"