1.
Opioid
–
Opioids are substances that act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects. Opioids are most often used medically to relieve pain, and by people addicted to opioids, opioids include opiates, an older term that refers to such drugs derived from opium, including morphine itself. Other opioids are semi-synthetic and synthetic drugs such as hydrocodone, oxycodone and fentanyl, antagonist drugs such as naloxone, the terms opiate and narcotic are sometimes encountered as synonyms for opioid. Opiate is properly limited to the alkaloids found in the resin of the opium poppy although some include semi-synthetic derivatives. In some jurisdictions all controlled drugs are classified as narcotics. The term can have pejorative connotations and its use is discouraged where that is the case. Primarily used for relief, including anesthesia they are also used to suppress cough, suppress diarrhea, treat addiction, reverse opioid overdose. Extremely strong opioids are approved only for use such as immobilizing large mammals. Opioids act by binding to receptors, which are found principally in the central and peripheral nervous system. These receptors mediate both the psychoactive and the effects of opioids. The side effects of opioids may include itchiness, sedation, nausea, respiratory depression, constipation, Tolerance and dependence will develop with continuous use, requiring increasing doses and leading to a withdrawal syndrome upon abrupt discontinuation. The euphoria attracts recreational use, and frequent, escalating recreational use of opioids typically results in addiction, accidental overdose or concurrent use with other depressant drugs commonly results in death from respiratory depression. Because of opioid drugs reputation for addiction and fatal overdose, most are controlled substances, illicit production, smuggling, and addiction to opioids prompted treaties, laws and policing which have realized limited success. In 2013 between 28 and 38 million people used opioids illicitly, in 2011 an estimated 4 million people in the United States used opioids recreationally or were dependent on them. Current increased rates of use and addiction are attributed to over-prescription of opioid medications. Conversely, fears about over-prescribing, exaggerated side effects and addiction from opioids are similarly blamed for under-treatment of pain, the term opioid originated in the 1950s. It combines opium + -oid meaning opiate-like, by the late 1960s, research found that opiate effects are mediated by activation of specific molecular receptors in the nervous system, which were termed opioid receptors. The definition of opioid was later refined to refer to substances that have activities that are mediated by the activation of opioid receptors
2.
Opium
–
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy. The latex also contains the closely related opiates codeine and thebaine, the word meconium historically referred to related, weaker preparations made from other parts of the opium poppy or different species of poppies. The production of opium has not changed since ancient times, through selective breeding of the Papaver somniferum plant, the content of the phenanthrene alkaloids morphine, codeine, and to a lesser extent thebaine has been greatly increased. For the illegal trade, the morphine is extracted from the opium. It is then converted to heroin which is two to four times as potent, and increases the value by two to four times, the reduced weight and bulk make it easier to smuggle. Evidence from ancient Greece indicate that opium was consumed in several ways, including inhalation of vapors, suppositories, medical poultices, Opium is mentioned in the most important medical texts of the ancient world, including the Ebers Papyrus and the writings of Dioscorides, Galen, and Avicenna. Widespread medical use of unprocessed opium continued through the American Civil War before giving way to morphine and its successors, Opium has been actively collected since prehistoric times. Though western scholars typically estimate this to be around 1500 BCE, Indian scholars maintain that the verses and the history contained in them have been orally transmitted thousands of years before. A common name for males in Afghanistan is Redey, which in Pashto means poppy and this term may be derived from the Sanskrit words rddhi and hrdya, which mean magical, a type of medicinal plant, and heart-pleasing, respectively. The upper Asian belt of Afghanistan, Pakistan, northern India, numerous finds of P. somniferum or P. setigerum from Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements have also been reported. The first known cultivation of poppies was in Mesopotamia, approximately 3400 BCE, by Sumerians, who called the plant hul gil. Tablets found at Nippur, a Sumerian spiritual center south of Baghdad, described the collection of juice in the morning. Opium production continued under the Babylonians and Egyptians, Opium was used with poison hemlock to put people quickly and painlessly to death, but it was also used in medicine. The Ebers Papyrus, c. 1500 BCE, describes a way to stop a child using grains of the poppy plant strained to a pulp. Spongia somnifera, sponges soaked in opium, were used during surgery, the Egyptians cultivated opium thebaicum in famous poppy fields around 1300 BCE. Opium was traded from Egypt by the Phoenicians and Minoans to destinations around the Mediterranean Sea, including Greece, Carthage, and Europe. By 1100 BCE, opium was cultivated on Cyprus, where surgical-quality knives were used to score the poppy pods, and opium was cultivated, traded, Opium was also mentioned after the Persian conquest of Assyria and Babylonian lands in the 6th century BCE. From the earliest finds, opium has appeared to have ritual significance, and anthropologists have speculated ancient priests may have used the drug as a proof of healing power
3.
Alkaloid
–
Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that mostly contain basic nitrogen atoms. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties, some synthetic compounds of similar structure are also termed alkaloids. In addition to carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen, alkaloids may also contain oxygen, sulfur and, more rarely, other such as chlorine, bromine. Alkaloids are produced by a variety of organisms including bacteria, fungi, plants. They can be purified from crude extracts of these organisms by acid-base extraction, many have found use in traditional or modern medicine, or as starting points for drug discovery. Other alkaloids possess psychotropic and stimulant activities, and have used in entheogenic rituals or as recreational drugs. Although alkaloids act on a diversity of systems in humans and other animals. The boundary between alkaloids and other nitrogen-containing natural compounds is not clear-cut, Compounds like amino acid peptides, proteins, nucleotides, nucleic acid, amines, and antibiotics are usually not called alkaloids. Natural compounds containing nitrogen in the position are usually classified as amines rather than as alkaloids. Some authors, however, consider alkaloids a special case of amines, the name alkaloids was introduced in 1819 by the German chemist Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Meißner, and is derived from late Latin root Latin, alkali and the suffix Greek, -οειδής – like. However, the term came into use only after the publication of a review article by Oscar Jacobsen in the chemical dictionary of Albert Ladenburg in the 1880s. There is no method of naming alkaloids. Many individual names are formed by adding the suffix ine to the species or genus name, for example, atropine is isolated from the plant Atropa belladonna, strychnine is obtained from the seed of Strychnine tree. If several alkaloids are extracted from one plant then their names often contain suffixes idine, anine, aline, inine etc. There are also at least 86 alkaloids whose names contain the root vin because they are extracted from plants such as Vinca rosea. Alkaloid-containing plants have been used by humans since ancient times for therapeutic, for example, medicinal plants have been known in the Mesopotamia at least around 2000 BC. The Odyssey of Homer referred to a given to Helen by the Egyptian queen. It is believed that the gift was an opium-containing drug, a Chinese book on houseplants written in 1st–3rd centuries BC mentioned a medical use of Ephedra and opium poppies
4.
Psychoactive drug
–
A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, or psychotropic is a chemical substance that changes brain function and results in alterations in perception, mood, or consciousness. These substances may be used recreationally, to alter ones consciousness, or, as entheogens, for ritual, spiritual, or shamanic purposes. Some categories of drugs, which have medical therapeutic value, are prescribed by medical doctors. There are also some psychoactive substances used in the detoxification and rehabilitation programs for drug users. Psychoactive substances often bring about changes in consciousness and mood that the user may find rewarding. In addition, sustained use of some substances may produce a physical dependence or psychological dependence syndrome associated with somatic or psychological-emotional withdrawal states respectively, Drug rehabilitation aims to break this cycle of dependency, through a combination of psychotherapy, support groups, maintenance and even other psychoactive substances. However, the reverse is true in some cases, that certain experiences on drugs may be so unfriendly. This is especially true of certain deliriants, powerful dissociatives, and classic psychedelics, in part because of this potential for substance misuse, addiction, or dependence, the ethics of drug use is debated. Restrictions on drug production and sales in an attempt to drug abuse are very common among national and sub-national governments worldwide. Ethical concerns have also raised about over-use of these drugs clinically. Psychoactive drug use can be traced to prehistory, there is archaeological evidence of the use of psychoactive substances dating back at least 10,000 years, and historical evidence of cultural use over the past 5,000 years. The chewing of coca leaves, for example, dates back over 8,000 years ago in Peruvian society, medicinal use is one important facet of psychoactive drug usage. However, some have postulated that the urge to alter ones consciousness is as primary as the drive to satiate thirst, hunger or sexual desire. Supporters of this belief contend that the history of use and even childrens desire for spinning, swinging. It is, however, necessary to precisely what is meant by the use of drugs. We do not mean the purely physical craving, but there are not many drugs which have the power of stilling such craving. This relationship is not limited to humans, a number of animals consume different psychoactive plants, animals, berries and even fermented fruit, becoming intoxicated, such as cats after consuming catnip. Traditional legends of sacred plants often contain references to animals that introduced humankind to their use, animals and psychoactive plants appear to have co-evolved, possibly explaining why these chemicals and their receptors exist within the nervous system
5.
Genetically modified organism
–
A genetically modified organism is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. GMOs are used to produce many medications and genetically modified foods and are used in scientific research. The term GMO is very close to the legal term, living modified organism, defined in the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. A more specifically defined type of GMO is a transgenic organism and this is an organism whose genetic makeup has been altered by the addition of genetic material from an unrelated organism. The first genetically modified mouse was created in 1974, and the first plant was produced in 1983, genetic modification involves the mutation, insertion, or deletion of genes. Inserted genes usually come from a different species in a form of horizontal gene-transfer, in nature this can occur when exogenous DNA penetrates the cell membrane for any reason. This can be accomplished artificially by, attaching the genes to a virus, physically inserting the extra DNA into the nucleus of the intended host with a very small syringe. Firing small particles from a gene gun, other methods exploit natural forms of gene transfer, such as the ability of Agrobacterium to transfer genetic material to plants, or the ability of lentiviruses to transfer genes to animal cells. Humans have domesticated plants and animals since around 12,000 BCE, various advancements in genetics allowed humans to directly alter the DNA and therefore genes of organisms. In 1972 Paul Berg created the first recombinant DNA molecule when he combined DNA from a virus with that of the lambda virus. Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen made the first genetically modified organism in 1973 and they took a gene from a bacterium that provided resistance to the antibiotic kanamycin, inserted it into a plasmid and then induced another bacteria to uptake the plasmid. The bacteria was then able to survive in the presence of kanamycin, Boyer and Cohen expressed other genes in bacteria. This included genes from the toad Xenopus laevis in 1974, creating the first GMO expressing a gene from an organism from different kingdom, in 1974 Rudolf Jaenisch created a transgenic mouse by introducing foreign DNA into its embryo, making it the world’s first transgenic animal. However it took eight years before transgenic mice were developed that passed the transgene to their offspring. Genetically modified mice were created in 1984 that carried cloned oncogenes, mice with genes knocked out were created in 1989. The first transgenic livestock were produced in 1985 and the first animal to synthesise transgenic proteins in their milk were mice, in 1983 the first genetically engineered plant was developed by Michael W. Bevan, Richard B. They infected tobacco with Agrobacterium transformed with a resistance gene. The gene gun was invented in 1987, allowing transformation of plants not susceptible to Agrobacterium infection, in 2000, Vitamin A-enriched golden rice, was the first plant developed with increased nutrient value
6.
Convention on Psychotropic Substances
–
The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 could not ban the many newly discovered psychotropics, since its scope was limited to drugs with cannabis, coca, and opium-like effects. The Convention, which contains import and export restrictions and other rules aimed at limiting drug use to scientific and medical purposes, as of 2013,183 member states are Parties to the treaty. Many laws have passed to implement the Convention, including the U. S. Psychotropic Substances Act, the UK Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Adolf Lande, under the direction of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, the Commentary, published in 1976, is an invaluable aid to interpreting the treaty and constitutes a key part of its legislative history. This treaty, signed in 1988, regulates precursor chemicals to drugs controlled by the Single Convention and it also strengthens provisions against money laundering and other drug-related crimes. International drug control began with the 1912 International Opium Convention, a treaty which adopted import and export restrictions on the opium poppys psychoactive derivatives, after the United Nations was formed in 1945, those enforcement functions passed to the UN. During the 1960s, drug use increased in Western developed nations, young people began using hallucinogenic, stimulant, and other drugs on a widespread scale that has continued to the present. In many jurisdictions, police had no laws under which to prosecute users and traffickers of these new drugs, LSD, the language of the Single Convention and its legislative history precluded any interpretation that would allow international regulation of these drugs under that treaty. A new convention, with a scope, would be required in order to bring those substances under control. Using the Single Convention as a template, the Commission prepared a draft convention which was forwarded to all UN member states, the Secretary-General of the United Nations scheduled a conference for early 1971 to finalize the treaty. Meanwhile, countries had already begun passing legislation to implement the draft treaty, in 1969, Canada added Part IV to its Food and Drugs Act, placing a set of restricted substances, including LSD, DMT, and MDA, under federal control. In 1970, the United States completely revamped its existing drug laws by enacting the Controlled Substances Act. In 1971, the United Kingdom passed the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, a host of other nations followed suit. The conference convened on 11 January 1971, Nations split into two rival factions, based on their interests. According to a Senate of Canada report, One group included mostly developed nations with powerful pharmaceutical industries, the other group consisted of developing states. with few psychotropic manufacturing facilities. The organic drugmaking states that had suffered economically from the Single Conventions restrictions on cannabis, coca, the synthetic drug-producing states opposed those restrictions. The Conventions adoption marked a milestone in the development of the global drug control regime. As of June 2013, there are 183 state parties to the convention and this total includes 182 member states of the United Nations and the Holy See
. PMID 26272907.
