Depressants - tranquilizers and opiates

What is the active compound in indian snake root

Reserpine

What did reserpine revolutionize

treatment of chronic psychosis and moderate to severe hypertension

How was reserpine promoted by europe and the united states pharmaceutical companies

tranquilizing agent for mild to severe anxiety

Why was reserpine later banned by the US food and drug administration

Adverse side effects including fatigue, and deep depression

What are some of the reserpine synthetics and what was it used for

phenothiazines - tranquilizer for treating anxiety and related psychiatric disorders

what plant part does reserpine come from

the roots

Where is kava native to

south pacific islands

is kava naturally occuring

no, it is only found as a cultigen, very common on the island vanuatu

How is kava propagated

it is sterile so can only reproduce asexually using vegetation

What part of the kava plant was used

Rootstock

How was kava used religiously

Ceremonially for communication with ancestors and gods

What was kava used to treat historically

Used socially to relax body and the mind, for sleep, to relieve pain, treat anxiety, insomnia, rheumatism, menstrual problems, venereal diseases, tuberculosis

How was kava taken

Chewed, or grated

How was kava taken in the chewing method

small pieces chewed into a soft mass that is mixed with water and coconut milk, and then strained and drank later

How was kava taken in the grating method

grated and macerated, in cold water and coconut milk, filtered and then drank.

How did the chewing effect the potency

Increased the narcotic and depressant effect, salivary enzymes helped this

Grating potency

milder tonic used to treat sick and convalescent

Active principle in kava

kavalactones

Effects pf kavalactones on the body

mild depressants, muscle relaxing, antispasmodie

Medicinal effects of kavalactones

muscle paralysis, increase force and decrease rapidity of heartbeat, stimulates and then depresses respiration, does not impair alertness

Kava extracts

mildly hypnotic-sedative, analgesic, psychotropic

Dosages effects of kava

Small - tranquil, friendly, long lasting

large - visual disturbance, muscle coordination effected, strongly hypnotic

Use of kava in medicine

anxiety, stress, agitation, insomnia, less side effects than synthetic drugs

effects of kava

excessive use leads to scaly skin, liver toxicity, their effects are additive because of depressant effect do not drive while on it.

liver toxicity of kava

some reports of it, leading to its ban. unsure what causes it, some think that it may be due to using other parts of the plant or using it in its supplement form could cause it too because it is being mixed differently

What is an example of a plant tranquilizer

Indian snake root, or kava

Name an example of on opiate plant

opium poppy

where is the opium poppy native to

southwestern asia

What family is the opium poppy apart of

the poppy family

What is the oldest known narcotic

opium poppy often referenced as the joy plant

hisytory of use of the poppy

in use in funerals in cults of the eastern mediterranean and spain

poppy cults

mycenaean and minoan cults were centered around the worship of the fertility goddesses like Persephone

Evidence of narcotic use of poppy

in cyprus and crete, and ancient greece, mentioned in writings and found pipes

Discorides and Galen

Both mentioned the plant, the extracts and the latex of capsules for poison, venomous bites, headache, epilepsy, deafness, sight

Pliny

Found it was a powerful soporific (sleepy) but fatal in large doses, some medicinal syrup from sap of poppy was created in this time

Spread of opium

to arabian peninsula, india and china. Initially used by arabs but it was poorly known by anyone and were the ones that controled its trade and intorduction

paracelsus

doctrine of signatures, popularized the use of opium in europe, made tincture of opium and ethanol to relieve pain and general euphoria

Thomas Sydenham

pioneer of english medicine, took good records and observations, discovered use and promoted it for relieving pain and suffering

19th century and opium

was legal and apart of daily life, being imported from iran as raw latex, important component of healing arts and used for pain relief, soothing crying infants, cough remedy, cure for diarrhea and dysentery

Thomas De Quincey

writer that used laudanum to alleviate tooth pain and wrote a book called the confessions of an opium eater that described the addictive, euphoric and what it was like to be an opium addict

Who introduced opium poppy to india and china

arabic traders

history of opium and china

took off quickly and resulted in the beginning of opium smoking, use of tabacco was banned in china which increased the use of opium because it wasn’t banned. eventually banned and made illegal, this was hard due to the large numbers of people addicted. It was getting better until brittain brought it back in leading to the opium wars

opium wars

British east india company controlled the trade of opium, saw china was addicted but it was illegal, they held public auctions for people shipping legal goods to china to smuggle opium in. Resulted in millions of kilos of opium being shipped into china, this was the majority of China’s trade, this made the ship merchants, the checkers at the port and the british east Indian company so much money.

How did the opium wars affect china’s economy

put a huge drain on their economy

China fights back against the opium war

Lin Tse-Hsu decides he’s done with this and destroys 2 million pounds of opium at the docks this starts the first war, british troops send their naval fleet to attack the chinese port resulting in China’s surrender and reimburse the cost of the opium and give brittain more trading rights such as opium in payment for the action

Second opium war

The opium crisis only got worse so china retaliated again resulting in a second surrender further weakening their government and resulting in 25% of chinese people were addicted to opium. The trade eventually ended due to the craziness that had occured

Bad view on china

Everyone didnt like china because they associated it with opium and also viewed opium bad due to the state it left china it, people became biased against chinese people even though the european were the cause of it

where does opium come from in the plant

Green fruit contains a milky sap that dries into a gummy latex substance that is the opium

what is the chemical constituents of opium

contains many alkaloids the main 4 are morphine (found in the highest concentration), noscapine, papaverine, and thebaine

How does opium effect the CNS

lots of opioid sensors in the brain, decrease in brains sensitivity of pain, depresses heart rate and respiration, impairs digestion by slowly muscle contractions and secretion of digestive juices

How is opium a paregoric

Something used to stop diarrhea, the effects of opium on digestion allowed it to be this

Laudanum and opium

tincture of opium

Other effects of opium mentally

suppresses feelings of tension, anxiety, depression, panic,lassitude (drowsiness, low motivation), causes a feeling of euphoria and total satisfaction

What is morphine

found in opium, powerful analgesic, hypnotic (sleep inducing) and narcotic

How is morphine taken

orally, smoked, or injected

Morphine feelings of effect

Fast acting and lasts up to 12 hours

Morphine in war

used in war due to addictive, and analgesic effects, it was important drug during this time and allowed them to keep fighting. Addictions became clear, wanted to harness analgesic effects but not the addective effects

Alder wright

chemist, produced a morphine semi-synthetic called diacetylmorphine which was later synthesized and marketed commercially by bayer calling it heroin

Heroin

introduced to the market and believed it to be less addictive and a substitution for morphine and codeine, but it is actually more addictive

History of heroin

Quickly people noticed its very addictive, was banned and was the most addictive of the opiates at that time. 3x more potent due to lipid solubility

Heroin addiction

become addicted in 2 weeks, quickly losses its effects and need to take more to feel more, eventually it isn’t effective anymore and you just take it to not feel bad because the withdrawal symptoms are so horrendous

Heroin withdrawal symptoms

4 hours - anxiety and craving it

8 hours - sweating, runny nose, teary eyes and yawning

12 hours - all the above plus goosebumps, muscle twitching, hot and cold flashed, aching bones and muscles, appetite loss

18-24 hours - same as above plus insomnia, increased respiratory and heart rates, nausea

24-36 hours- vomiting, weight loss, curled up positions

Methadone

Semi-synthetic, addictive, used to get over heroin addictions, taken in stages of increased dose, lose craving for heroin as more its taken but need to take continually to keep the craving gone as it stops the desire for and pleasurable effects of opiates

Methadone symptoms

equally effective taken orally, don’t need needles or injections, lesser depression of respiration and heart rates, less euphoria and drowsiness, withdrawal symptoms are less severe because they occur over a longer period of time

What is codeine

mild analgesic with no euphoric effects, synthetic opiate, addictive

How is codeine used

Cough suppressant, taken with aspirin for relief of arthritic pain, headaches, general muscle pains, and colds

Oxycodone

Semi-synthetic, made from thebaine called oxycotic, controlled release tablets to manage moderate to severe pain, used for around the clock pain relief for things like chronic cancer, osteo-arthritic pain, potentially addictive

Fentanyl

potent synthetic opiate, analgesic anaesthetic - 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine used to treat chronic and severe pain, overdose is fatal

opium production in history

medicinally produced in europe, turkey nad india, today thebaine poppy is grown in australia and france

Thebaine poppy

used because it is difficult to convert to heroine to keep it off the elicit market, used to create codeine, oxycodone, buprenorphine, naloxone, naltrexone

north american heroin supply

smuggled into mexico and south america

Golden triangle

Myanmar, laos, and thailand - where the illicit drug market is centred

Who is the main global source for heroin

Afghanistan