r/Drugs AMA series: Heroin
We now come to a drug in our poll of redditors with a VERY storied history around the world. Depicted countless times in every form of media and used by many of the very purveyors of said media (especially musicians), heroin is the drug we'll be conducting today's AMA around.
First synthesis: 1874 by Charles Romley Alder Wright. Later synthesized independently by Felix Hoffmann in 1897 in an attempt to produce codeine while working for a precursor to Bayer. Fun fact: the chemical name for this drug is actually diacetylmorphine. Heroin was the trademarked brand name that Bayer came up with.
Intended use: Bayer originally marketed Heroin^TM as a cough suppressant and non-addictive morphine substitute. They even went so far as to claim that it could be used in treatment of morphine addiction -- the equivalent of suggesting that adding nitrous oxide system will help slow a car down.
Current research into medical applications: None.
Legality: Strictly illegal in nearly all countries, with nations such as Portugal, The Czech Republic and Mexico decriminalizing personal amounts and Germany, The Netherlands and the UK allowing prescriptions in very specific cases.
I'll add these charts to previous AMA's:
Dependence vs. Active Dose/Lethal Dose
Special thanks to redditor jmkogut, a moderator over at r/opiates, for monitoring this AMA.
Posted Aug 9, 2011, 8:25 PM UTC · edited