| In 1874, German chemists invented heroin by adding
two acetyl groups to morphine. The acetyl groups allow heroin to
quickly dissolve through the fat layer in the brain, making heroin twice
as potent as morphine. In 1898, the German drug company Bayer commercially
introduced heroin as a cough suppressant (Miscellany News).
After the addictive properties of opioids were discovered, the United States placed a heavy tax on the production of opioids with the Harrison Act in 1914, and finally banned nonmedical use of the drugs in 1924 (Snyder, 1989). The Federal Controlled Substance Act of 1970 classified heroin as |
imported into the United States from Asia. |
 Injection is the most common method of heroin use on the street. Images used with permission from the Greater Manchester Police. |
a schedule one drug, declaring that it has a
high potential for abuse and no accepted medical uses. Most other
opioids were classified as schedule two drugs, which permits usage only
with a medical prescription (Kandel and Schwartz, 1985).
In 1973, Candace Pert and Solomon Snyder discovered that opioids act by attaching to specific receptors within the brain. These receptors were called the opiate receptors. This led to an interesting question: why does the human brain have specific binding sites for a chemical found in the poppy plant? Scientists hypothesized that the brain has its own chemical, similar in structure to morphine, that activates the receptor. In 1975, Scottish neuroscientists John Hughes and Hans Kosterlitz discovered two neurotransmitters that activate the opiate receptors. Several others have since been discovered. Collectively, these neurotransmitters are called the endorphins, meaning morphine in the head (Snyder 1996). Today, opioids are still used in medications for pain relief, cough suppression, and to treat diarrhea. Heroin is one of the most widely used illegal drugs in the United States, with an estimated 1.5 million users (Miscellany News). |
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This site was created during the fall semester of 1999 by Wes
Self, a student at
Davidson College, as part of an assignment in Biology 312 (Animal Physiology). Questions, comments and suggestions are appreciated at weself@davidson.edu |