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- Bugsy Siegel
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- Related Topics:
- opium
- heroin
- alphaprodine
- carfentanil
- sufentanil
narcotic
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What is a narcotic drug?
A narcotic is a drug that can bring analgesia (pain relief), narcosis (a stupor or sleep-like state), and addiction (physical dependence). Some people also experience euphoria from narcotics.
The best-known narcotics are opiates, which are compounds derived from opium. Morphine, derived from opium, is primarily responsible for opium’s narcotic properties. Synthetic drugs similar to morphine are called opioids; the terms opiate, opioid, and narcotics are often used interchangeably.
Because of their addictive properties, detrimental effects, and potential for abuse, the production, trade, and use of narcotics are limited in most countries. In the U.S., narcotics are regulated under the Controlled Substances Act, with oversight by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
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What are some common examples of narcotic drugs?
Narcotics are drugs that relieve pain, induce sleep or stupor, and may cause addiction. They are regulated due to their potential for abuse and harmful effects.
Examples of narcotics include:
* Opiates These are derived from opium, the dried juice of the opium poppy. Morphine is the most important alkaloid in opium and is primarily responsible for its narcotic properties.
* Opioids These are synthetic drugs with effects similar to morphine. The terms opiate, opioid, and narcotic are often used interchangeably. Common opioid drugs include prescription pain relievers like fentanyl, oxycodone, and hydrocodone, as well as illegal substances like heroin and illicitly manufactured fentanyl.
* Codeine A milder narcotic isolated from morphine, mainly used for cough relief.
* Synthetic opioids Examples include meperidine (Demerol), methadone, and levorphanol, which have largely replaced morphine and heroin in treating severe pain.6 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How are narcotic drugs used in medicine?
Narcotics, especially opiates from the opium poppy, are mainly used for pain relief, earning them the name narcotic analgesics. They relieve pain and reduce suffering, worry, fear, and panic associated with severe pain. Morphine, isolated in 1804, is a potent painkiller, while codeine, a milder narcotic, is mainly used for cough relief.
Because of their addictive nature, the use of opiate pain relievers requires monitoring to avoid tolerance and potentially fatal respiratory depression from overdose. Methadone, a synthetic opiate, is used for addiction therapy because it blocks cravings without causing euphoria.
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What effects do narcotic drugs have on the human body?
Narcotic drugs, such as opiates and opioids, primarily affect the brain and spinal cord to relieve pain, reduce anxiety, and induce relaxation and drowsiness. They can also cause euphoria and alter mood.
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Physiologically, narcotics can slow respiration and heartbeat, suppress coughing, and relax gastrointestinal muscles. However, they are addictive, leading to physical dependence, tolerance, and withdrawal symptoms. Overdoses, especially with drugs like morphine, can cause severe central nervous system depression and respiratory failure, potentially leading to death.\
Long-term abuse can also cause changes in brain function, affecting cognitive processing, memory, and moral judgment.7 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
Why can narcotic drugs be dangerous if misused?
Narcotic drugs, like opiates, carry significant risks when misused due to their impact on the central nervous system. These drugs can cause tolerance, where users need increasingly larger doses to achieve the same effects, raising the risk of overdose. Overdoses can severely depress the central nervous system, leading to respiratory failure and potentially death.
Additionally, narcotics can be addictive, causing physical dependence. Abruptly stopping the drug can cause withdrawal symptoms. Misuse of narcotics also carries the risk of long-term mental health effects, including changes in brain function and impaired moral judgment.
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What laws or rules exist to control the use of narcotic drugs?
Laws and regulations exist internationally and nationally to control narcotic drugs because of their addictive properties and detrimental effects.
International Controls
* The Hague Convention of 1912 was the first international treaty regarding opium. Later, the League of Nations was given the responsibility to supervise agreements regarding opium and other dangerous drugs.
* In 1946, the UN took over the League of Nations' responsibilities. In 1961, the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs limited the use of coca leaves and cannabis to medical and scientific needs.National Controls
* In the U.S., the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) enforces the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The CSA classifies drugs into five schedules based on abuse potential, medical applications, and likelihood of dependence.
* Great Britain's Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA) classifies drugs into three categories: Class A, Class B, and Class C.5 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
narcotic, drug that produces analgesia (pain relief), narcosis (state of stupor or sleep), and addiction (physical dependence on the drug). In some people narcotics also produce euphoria (a feeling of great elation). In the United States, narcotics are regulated under the Controlled Substances Act, which established a classification system with five schedules to identify drugs based on their potential for abuse, their applications in medicine, and their likelihood of producing dependence. The act is implemented by the Drug Enforcement Administration, which is empowered to prosecute violators of laws governing these controlled substances. A brief treatment of narcotics follows. For full treatment, see drug use.
The best-known narcotics are the opiates—i.e., compounds found in or derived from opium. Opium is obtained as the dried milky juice of the seed pods of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum). Of the 20 or more alkaloids found in opium, the most important is morphine, which is primarily responsible for opium’s narcotic properties. Drugs with actions similar to morphine that are produced synthetically are known as opioids; the terms opiate, opioid, and narcotics are used interchangeably. In most countries the production, trade in, and use of narcotics are limited because of their addictive properties, detrimental effects, and the incidence of narcotic drug abuse.
Therapeutic uses
The main therapeutic use of narcotics is for pain relief, and they are in fact some of the most powerful painkillers available. When used for this purpose, they are often called narcotic analgesics. Narcotics occurring naturally in the opium poppy have been used since ancient Greek times, both for relieving pain and for producing euphoria. Extracts of the opium poppy were smoked, eaten, or drunk (as laudanum, a crude mixture of alcohol and opium). The pharmacologically active components of opium were isolated during the first half of the 19th century. The first was morphine, isolated by a young German pharmacist, F.W.A. Sertürner, in about 1804. A much milder narcotic, codeine, was in turn isolated from morphine.
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Today narcotics are often given to patients who are dying from cancer. In this case, the drugs not only relieve pain but also seem to reduce suffering, worry, fear, and panic associated with severe pain. As terminal cancer patients often do not have long to live and the provision of an acceptable quality of life may be the paramount issue, problems of addiction are largely irrelevant.
Characteristics of addiction
The invention of the hypodermic needle in the mid-19th century allowed morphine to be administered by injection, which is useful in medicine because injections of morphine produce much greater effects than taking the same amount of drug orally. However, the availability of morphine injections led to serious problems of abuse, and laws were introduced to control the use, production, and trade of narcotics and other dangerous drugs. Such laws now exist in most countries of the world. In 1898 heroin, or diacetylmorphine, was developed from morphine by the Bayer Company in Germany. Heroin is 5 to 10 times as potent as morphine itself and is used by most narcotic addicts. Because heroin proved to be even more addictive than morphine, a search for synthetic substitutes was undertaken that resulted in such opioids as meperidine (Demerol), methadone, and levorphanol (Levo-Dromoran).
Most persistent users of heroin or other narcotics follow a classic progression from inhaling the drug to injecting it subcutaneously and then to injecting it intravenously; each of these stages usually brings a greater likelihood of addiction with it. With increasing use of the drug, euphoria and relaxation eventually give way to drug tolerance and physical dependence; the addict must use progressively larger doses to achieve the same pleasurable effects, and once the drug wears off he must endure painful symptoms of physical and psychological withdrawal. An overdose of narcotics can severely depress the central nervous system, with respiratory failure and death as a consequence.
Treatment for addiction
Probably the most effective therapy for narcotics addiction involves the synthetic opiate methadone, which, though itself addictive, blocks cravings and provides no disruptive euphoric effects of its own. Substances known as narcotic antagonists block the actions of the narcotics and reverse their effects; at narcotic receptors in the brain, narcotics act to produce their many effects, whereas narcotic antagonists block these receptors and prevent narcotics from reaching them and exerting their actions. Examples of narcotic antagonists include naloxone, naltrexone, and nalorphine. They are used to reverse the effects of an overdose of narcotics, and they can often save the life of the victim. Naloxone can be given by injection or administered as a nasal spray.
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