Addiction is a gigantic worldwide catastrophe. Opium-derived compounds develop into some of the familiar addictive drugs these days. Opiates are widely obtainable and tremendously distributed almost everywhere. Before discussing opiate addiction, its nature, and its treatment techniques, it is essential to fully understand the opium-based compound first.

Essentially, an opiate is a substance that is obtained from the opium plant. The most common kinds of opium-derived drugs include papaverine, morphine, codeine, thebaine, and heroin. Interestingly, two of the main types of opium-derived drugs, heroine and morphine, have identical chemical structures. Due to this property, heroin can be discovered through urine screening when morphine is being administered to the human body. According to medical studies, heroin has the capability to be a brain sedative and it has the ability to access the brain more rapidly as compared to morphine. In fact, both substances are used as palliatives and narcotics that provide soothing effects.

(1) Morphine: Morphine or opiate analgesic drug is the most popular and the most available opium-based compound in the world these days. Morphine is a type of amino acid derivatives. Morphine is very essential in the field of medicine since it is used in the treatment of disorders such as the accumulation of fluids in the lungs. An overabundance of morphine can produce plenty of troubles to the physical being of the drug dependent person. The disorders caused by morphine overdose include hypoventilation, lung swelling, congestive heart failure, lung failure, profound unconsciousness, or even death.

(2) Codeine: Codeine is a bit comparable to morphine, content-wise. Codeine is also used as a medication for tusis, severe and acute pain, diarrhea, and bowel syndrome. Codeine overdose can create lots of complications like itching, nausea, euphoria, drowsiness, miosis, dry mouth, vomiting, respiratory complications, urinary retention, constipation, and hypotension.

(3) Papaverine and Thebaine: The structural composition of thebaine is slightly akin to structural make-up of morphine and codeine. Thebaine is also known as paramorphine. This type of drug is not administered alone. Some of the substances that that are medicated with thebaine include buprenorphine, naloxone, oxymorphone, nalbuphine, etorphine, oxycodone, and naltrexone. An overabundance of thebaine is totally similar to the side-effects of morphine and codeine.

(4) Heroin: Heroin is referred to as a semi-synthetic tranquilizer. Due to the fact that the demand for this opium-based drug is extremely eminent, heroin enterprise is considered to be one of the fastest growing illicit industries. The most popular method of misusing heroin is the utilization of the drug to the human body by means of an injection. Heroin goes by the brand name Diamorphine. Dependence to heroin may cause acquired immune deficiency syndrome and other venereal diseases. An overabundance of heroin may lead to acute difficulties like chronic constipation, renal failure, hypoventilation, comatose, as well as death.

The lone source of opiate-related drugs is the opium plant. The quality of opiate-related drugs is dependent on the amount of moisture in the opium plant.

The liquid kind of opiate-related drugs is called methadone, a substance that is used in the detox of people who are addicted to drugs. An overabundance of methadone may possibly lead to addiction.

Opium-derived compounds have a number of beneficial side-effects on the human body in situations where they are recommended by doctors as analgesics. When overabundance, opiate-related drugs may lead to a number of severe health complications. Addiction to opium-derived drugs may bring about physical and mental dependence. Muscle spasm is a common side-effect that resulted from the repeated use of opiate-related drugs. Respiratory complications are some of the possible side-effects of opium-derived drugs. The other side-effects of opiate addiction include cracked lips, skin rashes, hypotension, and constipation. Addiction to opium-derived substances may damage the nervous system and it may bring about sleepiness and profound unconsciousness. Finally, a repeated usage of opiate-related drugs may lead to the passing of the drug dependent person.

The treatment processes for opiate addiction may be performed in a residential or a non-residential basis. The whole treatment technique in both cases is divided into two stages: the detox and the advising. Detoxification involves the removal of toxins from the drug dependent’s body. In advising, the person who has drug addiction problems is persuaded to live a healthier life.

While the drug dependent person is experiencing the different treatment methods, support from his relatives, his peers, and the community are extremely needed.