Opiates and their Derivatives

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Opiates and their Derivatives
Humanity has had a long and storied relationship with opiates and their derivatives. Opiates are a class of drugs that function as a depressant, affecting the central nervous system (Opiates, 2010). Historically, they have been used in medicine as powerful pain relievers, and examples include morphine, heroin, and codeine (Opiates, 2010). Indeed, it is noted that since F.
Seturner
isolated an active principle from opium (morphine) (Martinez-Fernandez, Aragon-Poce, Marquez-Espinos, Perez-Perez, Perez-Bustamante, & Torres-Moera, 2002), opiates and humans have enjoyed a rocky tenure, fraught with misunderstanding, utility, and abuse. Morphine is a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seeds of the...

.....g of choice to opiate dependent drug users: a comparison of clients receiving heroin with those receiving injectable methadone at a West London drug clinic. Drug and Alcohol Review , 20, 267-276.
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