This Brief takes the reader on a chemical journey by following the
history for over two centuries of how an opiate became an opioid, thus
spawning an empire and a series of crises. These imperfect resemblances
of alkaloids are both natural and synthetic substances that,
particularly in America, are continually part of a growing concern about
overuse. This seemed an inviting prospect for those in pain, but as the
ubiquitous media coverage continues to lay bare, the levels of abuse
point to the fact that perhaps an epidemic is upon us, if not a culture
war.
Seeking answers to how and why this addiction crisis transpired over two
hundred years of long development, this Brief examines the role that the
chemistry laboratory played in turning patients into consumers. By
utilizing a host of diverse sources, this Brief seeks to trace the
design and the production of opioids and their antecedents over the past
two centuries. From the isolation and development of the first alkaloids
with morphine that relieved pain within the home and on the battlefield,
to the widespread use of nostrums and the addiction crisis that ensued,
to the dissemination of drugs by what became known as Big Pharma after
the World Wars; and finally, to competition from home-made
pharmaceuticals, the progenitor was always, in some form, a type of
chemistry lab. At times, the laboratory pressed science to think deeply
about society's maladies, such as curing disease and alleviating pain,
in order to look for new opportunities in the name of progress.
Despite the best intentions opioids have created a paradox of pain as
they were manipulated by creating relief with synthetic precision and
influencing a dystopian vision. Thus, influence came in many forms, from
governments, from the medical community, and from the entrepreneurial
aspirations of the general populace. For better, but mostly for worse,
all played a role in changing forever the trajectory of what started
with the isolation of a compound in Germany. Combining chemistry and
history in a rousing new long-form narrative that even broadens the
definition of a laboratory, the origins and future of this complicated
topic are carefully examined.
