Thanks, in part, to the generous support of the NIHCM, this month we are releasing four special episodes on Opioids. We hope you enjoy them. This week’s episode:
The History of Opioids – We will give a historical overview of people and opioids. We will look at when people first started using opioids, how they’ve changed over the years, and ways that they’ve been both amazingly positive as really effective painkillers and devastating to individuals and social orders. We will explore the early accounts of opiate use, addiction, and treatment, and touch on the Opium Wars in China. The evolution from raw opium latex to the powerful drugs derived from opium today traces a clear history of increasing addiction as opioids were available in more and more powerful preparations.
For those of you who want to read more:
- A Brief History of Opium
- Addiction rare in patients treate with narcotics
- Chronic use of opioid analgesics in non-malignant pain: report of 38 cases
- Pain Ratings: The Fifth Vital Sign
- Who Is Responsible for the Pain-Pill Epidemic?
- Two Agencies to Fight Online Narcotics Sales
- Opioid use and policy in the US, a history
- Civil Commitment in the United States
