A History of Opium and Heroin Addiction in the United States Documentary (1972)
Heroin Addiction: A History of Opium and Heroin Addiction in the United States Documentary (1972)
thefilmarchive.org Opium (poppy tears, lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum). Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine. The traditional method of obtaining the latex is to scratch (“score”) the immature seed pods (fruits) by hand; the latex leaks out and dries to a sticky yellowish residue that is later scraped off the fruit. The modern method is to harvest and process mature plants by machine. “Meconium” historically referred to related, weaker preparations made from other parts of the poppy or different species of poppies. The production of opium itself has basically not changed since ancient times. However, through selective breeding of the Papaver somniferum plant, the content of the phenanthrene alkaloids morphine, codeine, and to a lesser extent thebaine, has been greatly increased. In modern times, much of the thebaine, which often serves as the raw material for the synthesis for hydrocodone, hydromorphone, and other semi-synthetic opiates, originates from extracting Papaver orientale or Papaver bracteatum. Opium for illegal use is often converted into heroin, which is less bulky, making it easier to smuggle, and which multiplies its potency to approximately twice that of morphine. Heroin can be taken by intravenous …
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Heroin Addiction: Reynolds Faces Jury Trial in Smoker Case
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (Courtroom View Network) — George Ciccone smoked Reyolds tobacco cigarettes from age 11 until he died. He was diagnosed first with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and lung cancer, allegedly caused by his addiction to cigarettes. A Florida jury is now hearing Ciccone’s case against Reynolds American . The case summary from CVN is here: Ciccone v. R.J. Reynolds. In …
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Heroin Addiction: Manatee woman finds hope in recovery from prescription pill abuse
MANATEE — It began with sips of alcohol and hits of marijuana at 10.When she turned 12, she was popping pills.And by 14, Paige O’Brock was injecting herself with prescription drugs.
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Heroin Addiction: East Bangor woman accused of giving infant daughter methadone
The infant was being treated for addition to the drug, but the mother continued with unauthorized treatments, court records say.
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