PSYC1022: Topic 1 Lecture 1 T1 2020
1
PSYC1022: The Psychology of Addiction
Topic 1: Origins & Manufacture of addictive drugs (I)
Dr. Helena Pacitti
Outline:
• Drug Classifications
• Depressants:
• Alcohol
• Opium
• Morphine
• Laudanum
• Codeine
• Heroin
1
Drug Classification
• Drugs can be classified in many different ways
• One method involves classification based on the drug’s CNS effects
1. Depressants:
• Slow down CNS activity
2. Stimulants:
• Speed up CNS activity
3. Hallucinogens:
• Alter sensory perceptions (psychotogenic) by interfering with CNS signalling
4. Others:
• Do not fit neatly into other categories
• Fall into several categories
• Different experiences between individuals
• http://www.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/drugtreat-pubs-
front6-wk-toc~drugtreat-pubs-front6-wk-secb~drugtreat-pubs-front6-wk-secb-3~drugtreat-
pubs-front6-wk-secb-3-1
2
PSYC1022: Topic 1 Lecture 1 T1 2020
2
Depressants
3
Alcohol
• Can be made simply by leaving fruit in a
container for a period of time
• Paleolithic humans may have consumed
alcohol but there is little direct evidence
• 7000-5800BC: first direct evidence of
alcohol production
• Jiahu, China
• Archeological site (Neolithic era)
• pots were found to contain the residue of an alcoholic
liquid made from fermented rice, honey & hawthorn
• ‘Chateau Jiahu’: reverse engineered from molecular
archaeology
4
PSYC1022: Topic 1 Lecture 1 T1 2020
3
Alcohol
• 4100BC: Areni-1 cave, Armenia
• one of the earliest known sites of wine
production
• The press sits inside the cave & is slanted
downwards towards the mouth of a large
jar inserted in the platform's edge to
catch the crushed grape juice.
• This same design of wine press was
common throughout the Mediterranean
till 1900.
5
Alcohol
• 6.2 litres of pure alcohol per 15+
person (13.5g per day)
• Higher economic wealth of a country
the higher consumption is
• Highest rates in Europe, Russia, Australia,
Canada
• Unrecorded (i.e. home-brewed liquor) is
thought to account for almost 25% of
worldwide consumption
• 3.3 million deaths worldwide are attributable
to alcohol consumption
• WHO World Drug Report
6
PSYC1022: Topic 1 Lecture 1 T1 2020
4
Opium
• Opium is derived from the sap
produced by the opium poppy seed
head. The sap is released following
tissue damage.
• Sap acts as an anti-herbivore chemical
• Opium farmer makes incisions to
damage tissue, then sap is collected and
dried
• opium brick is typically sold by the farmer to a
broker.
• Historically, opium was the end product
• more recently, opium sold to to refiners who
convert it into morphine or heroin.
• Selective breeding has yielded an opium poppy
that has substantially higher concentrations of
opioids than the wild variant.
7
Opium
• 10,000-2000 BC: used broadly
throughout Europe, Asia, Middle East
& North Africa
• 4200 BC: archaeological sites of opium buried
in a ritual or sacred context.
• Brittany, France:
• ceramic bowls found in a sacred site
• Southern Spain:
• bags of opium capsules were found in a burial site
Rudgley (1995)
8
PSYC1022: Topic 1 Lecture 1 T1 2020
5
Opium
• 1500 BC: the Ebers papyrus
• found between the legs of a mummy in a tomb near Luxor,
Egypt
• describes a mixture of opium & another material which was
found to be effective in quietening crying children.
• In antiquity, children in Egypt, India & Europe were being
soothed with opium.
(Aggrawal, 1995).
• 1332-1323 BC: Cultivation & trade of opium was in full
operation during the reign of King Tutankhamun.
• 700 BC: Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’
• opium’s recreational use is described
The Ebers Papyrus
9
Morphine
• 1803: Morphine was isolated by the
German pharmacist, Friedrich Sertürner
• added the morphine crystals to food to kill unwanted
rats & dogs
• observed that morphine evoked sleep & ultimately death
• He suffered from gout in his later life & quelled his
pain with the very morphine he had isolated.
• The alkaloid morphine is generally 8 to 14% of
the dry weight of opium.
• Sertürner’s Morphine extraction method still used
in illicit labs today.
Friedrich Sertürner
1783-1841
10
PSYC1022: Topic 1 Lecture 1 T1 2020
6
1493-1541: Paracelsus, a Swiss-German occultist
• discovered that opium could be better dissolved into a
solution of alcohol rather than water.
• named solution Laudanum
• Although an effective analgesic, the compound was
largely ignored.
1624-1689: Thomas Sydenham, English physician
• produced & promoted his own Laudanum recipe
• cure for a range of medical conditions.
Laudanum
11
• 1837-1901: Laudanum remains available by prescription although therapeutic applications are
generally restricted to pain relief & alleviating withdrawal symptoms in babies born to heroin or
opiate addicted mothers.
• 1910 onwards: increasingly restrictive laws established which regulated the production & sale of
addictive compounds, including Laudanum.
Laudanum
Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup, c. 1849. Advert for Laudanum & Paregoric, c. 1897.
12
PSYC1022: Topic 1 Lecture 1 T1 2020
7
Codeine
Pierre Robiquet
• alkaloid present in opium at a concentration of about 1-3%.
• 1821: Pierre Robiquet (French chemist)
• Isolated codeine from morphine using the process of O-
methylation
• used as an analgesic (pain), antitussive (coughing),
antidiarrheal, antihypertensive (blood pressure), antianxiety,
sedative, to suppress premature labour contractions &
myocardial infarction (heart attack).
• It does have addictive potential but is less potent than
morphine or heroin.
13
Heroin
• 1874: diacetylmorphine, first synthesised by
English chemist, Charles Wright
• he accidently boiled morphine & acetic acid, over
a stove for several hours.
• This process of acetylation introduces an
acetyl group into the compound.
• The modern technique entails a complicated
series of steps in a good laboratory (Booth, 1999)
Charles Wright
14
PSYC1022: Topic 1 Lecture 1 T1 2020
8
Heroin
1898: Felix Hoffmann, German chemist
• worked at Bayer & discovered aspirin by subjecting salicylic
acid to the same acetylation process that Charles Wright had
applied to morphine.
• Hoffmann replicated this procedure & named the resulting
diacetylmorphine, heroin, in reference to its heroic effects
• Bayer marketed heroin as an effective sedative for coughs, like
morphine, but without the addictive potential
• sales rocketed & widespread dependence followed
1913: Bayer ceased production with the introduction of
widespread legislation to control the production & sale of
such compounds.
15