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Opium

Classification: Opiate analgesic

Commercial Names: Laudanum, Paregoric

Common Names/Nicknames: Laudanum, O, Chinese molasses, black stuff, gum, hop, skee, tar, gong, zero, dope

Active Compound: Morphine, codeine

Found in: Opium gum, opium powder, tincture of opium (laudanum), camphorated tincture of opium (paregoric)

Mode of Consumption: Inhalation (smoking), ingestion, injection

DEA Scheduling/Legal Status (in US): Schedule II, legal with prescription

Effects: 

Euphoria, drowsiness, anesthesia, decreased breathing, nausea, constipation, incontinence, pupil constriction, itchy skin

Risks:

Acute: Hypoxia, seizures, coma, fatal overdose

Chronic: Addiction, tolerance, withdrawal, weight loss

Inhalation: increased risk of pulmonary cancer, cardiovascular disease; Injection: blood-bourne pathogens, endocarditis, abscess

Males: impotence; Females: menstrual irregularities

Dangerous Drug Combinations: 

Potentially fatal combination with alcohol, barbiturates, methaqualone, benzodiazepines, and other drugs that suppress breathing.

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And remember, if somebody may need help, play it safe and call for medical assistance.

“Students may bring an intoxicated or drug-impaired friend to University Health Services or to a hospital, or seek assistance from College residential life staff or HUPD, and by doing this, neither they nor the friend will face disciplinary action from the College for having used or provided alcohol or drugs.”

                                                                                    The Amnesty Policy

                                                                                    Harvard College Student Handbook

 

Sources:

Buzzed: The Straight Facts About the Most Used and Abused Drugs from Alcohol to Ecstasy (Third Edition), by Cynthia Kuhn, Scott Swartzwelder, and Wilkie Wilson. Published 2008 by W. W. Norton & Company.

 

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institute of Health (NIH) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

http://www.nida.nih.gov/DrugPages/

 

U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), part of the U.S. Department of Justice.

http://www.justice.gov/dea/

 

Erowid Organization

http://www.erowid.org/

Permanent link to this article: http://www.harvarddapa.org/drug-ipedia/opiates/opium/