Heroin is now recognized as a scourge of modern society. We spend millions of dollars annually on our attempts to stop distribution of the drug and more millions on treatment for those who become addicted.
But back when it was first synthesized in the later part of the 19th century, it was viewed as a wonder drug for the treatment of pain and many illnesses. It was sold over the counter without any prescription.
Opium was the source. By 1805, the painkillers morphine and codeine had been derived from opium. With the growing concern of addiction, morphine - then not thought to be addictive - was used to treat opium addiction. Overtime, the addictive nature of morphine became known.
In 1874, an English chemist developed a process to make an even more powerful painkiller from morphine. A contemporary study concluded that in animals the drug produced: "... great prostration, fear, sleepiness speedily following the administration, the eyes being sensitive and pupils dilated, considerable salivation being produced in dogs, and slight tendency to vomiting in some cases, but no actual emesis (vomiting). Respiration was at first quickened, but subsequently reduced, and the heart's action was diminished and rendered irregular. Marked want of coordinating power over the muscular movements and the loss of power in the pelvis and hind limbs, together with a diminution of temperature in the rectum of about four degrees, were the most noticeable effects."
Twenty years later, the Bayer Pharmaceutical Company in Germany, famous for its Aspirin, was able to produce this new painkiller commercially. The name heroin probably comes from the German word "heroisch" meaning "large, powerful, extreme, one with pronounced effect even in small doses."
It was viewed as a wonder drug and soon became almost as popular as the company's Aspirin. Other drug companies soon copied the process and heroin flooded the marketplace.
Once again, it was thought that this new drug was not addictive.
Used to treat morphine addiction, it was popular as a painkiller. It was recommended for all types medical issues and especially for children.
While opium was initially thought to be only a Chinese problem in Canada, Mackenzie King saw it spreading to other Canadians after he met with opium dealers in Vancouver. Starting with the Opium Act of 1908, Canada incrementally regulated and banned various drugs. In 1914, the United States passed a law regulating the use of heroin and by 1924 the drug was totally banned.
There were two "heroin epidemics," according to American medical reports, one in the 1940s and the other during the Vietnam War.
Recently, some countries, including Canada, have used pharmaceutical-grade heroin to treat addiction to street drugs, a treatment returning to the initial reason for heroin's development.
In Vancouver, the Crosstown Clinic provides heroin to registered users as England has done for almost a century. It is believed that one in 10 addicts do not respond to the more traditional treatment such as methadone. For those affected finding a safe and supervised place is a way of avoiding the perils of street drugs and building a new life. Under the Stephen Harper government, this treatment was banned; with increasing overdosing and deaths, the Liberal government cancelled the ban and the Crosstown treatment started up again.
Every new development brings both good and bad. The history of heroin serves as an example of good intentions gone very wrong.
