A miracle cure for respiratory diseases . This is what heroin was called when it was discovered between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. At that time, the analgesic-sedative by excess was morphine, but it had severe adverse effects, so, looking for a derivative of morphine that was equally effective but not addictive and harmless, diacetylmorphine, commonly called heroin, was isolated.
Medicine accepted its commercial production with great enthusiasm, since it was not only a narcotic-analgesic as powerful as morphine , but also served as a remedy for coughs caused by tuberculosis and pneumonia.
The high caused by heroin became increasingly popular among young people. However, after identifying the unintended consequences and creating a life-threatening addiction, the heroin black market began to flourish to this day. Today, it is one of the biggest problems in society.
How was heroin created?
Heroin is an opioid with a great analgesic effect, whose effect can last between 4 and 5 hours. As we have already said, its scientific name is diacetylmorphine .
At the time it was discovered by chance, when an English chemist began to experiment by combining morphine with different types of acids. In one of his mixtures he obtained an acetylated form of morphine with much more powerful properties than morphine. This compound was tested on animals to see what effects it caused, and it was found that it caused drowsiness, altered pupils, excessive salivation, irregular pulse and lack of coordination in movements. Therefore, everything remained in a simple experiment.
Some 25 years later, diacetylmorphine was again synthesized by another chemist (in this case German) who worked for the pharmaceutical company Bayer. This, by order of a superior, trying to synthesize a component with properties similar to morphine but without the problems of addiction and side effects that it produced, he found an acetylated form with an effect 50%-100% greater than morphine .
Thereafter, Bayer began marketing it under the name Heroin (derived from Heroisch , which is German for powerful, strong, and brave), which was promoted as “a more effective, non-addictive morphine substitute” .
addiction problems
Due to its “non-addictiveness” and the high frequency of respiratory diseases, heroin was very well accepted in the medical field , and began to be used as a substitute for morphine in the treatment to suppress cough. As a result of this “no side effect” advertising, heroin began to be prescribed for all diseases in which morphine or codeine were used.
It was even prescribed for children , since one of the leading causes of infant death at that time was tuberculosis, and heroin syrup reduced breathing difficulties. But it is not just here, but it was also advertised as an “infallible drug” to control colds and coughs, so children were the main consumers of these syrups.
In patients treated with heroin, better sleep and reduced fear, less dyspnea and cough were observed, and some even increased their appetite, but when they stopped administering it, the disease reappeared.
The problem arose when, after regular use, it was necessary to increase the dose to achieve the desired effect. This, added to the reappearance of the cough when stopping consuming it, made the patients become addicted , and many of them pretended to be sick or had a cold in order to continue taking heroin. It didn’t take them long to realize that heroin addiction is much more intense than morphine addiction, to the point that even morphine addicts became heroin addicts.
The medical profession was slow to accept heroin addiction, but smugglers quickly became aware of the new drug’s euphoric properties and began selling it on the black market.
heroin illegalization
When it was finally shown that heroin was addictive, even more so than morphine itself, and that the effects of withdrawal were greater, the US Congress prohibited its sale , import or manufacture. And a year later, in 1925, it was banned by the Health Committee of the Societies of Nations.
In some countries it continued to be marketed as a replacement therapy for people addicted to morphine or cocaine, but with the signing of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs in 1961 , heroin was made illegal practically everywhere in the world.
References:
From cough medicine to deadly addiction, a century of heroin and drug-abuse policy. (1999). Yale School of Medicine. https://medicine.yale.edu/news/yale-medicine-magazine/article/from-cough-medicine-to-deadly-addiction-a-century/
Heroin (s.f.). Britennica. https://www.britannica.com/science/heroin
History of Heroin (1953). United Nations. https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/bulletin/bulletin_1953-01-01_2_page004.html
Hosztafi S. (2001). The history of heroin. Acta pharmaceutica Hungarica, 71 (2), 233–242.
Springer, A. (1996). Heroin Control: A Historical Overview. European Addiction Research, 2(4), 177–184. https://doi.org/10.1159/000259130
