Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

A Brief History of Opioids and the Evolution of Concepts Associated with Substance Use Disorders

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Opioids

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the history of opioids and people’s different relationships with them across time and geography. It begins with the origins of the poppy flower, the recreational and medical use of opium in ancient cultures and Asia, and its pathway to European users. This chapter also reviews the different medicinal opium preparations (e.g., beverages, syrups, concoctions) used until the nineteenth century and the Opium Wars between England and China. Another section describes the discovery of morphine, the development of semisynthetic and synthetic opioids, the identification of endogenous opioid peptides, and the pharmacological characterization of opioid receptor subtypes. Finally, this chapter provides a brief description of the role of opioids in modern societies and reviews how basic concepts related to opioids and opioid use disorders (OUDs) have evolved through time.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Jesus A, Bonhomme V, Evin A, Ivorra S, Soteras R, Salavert A, et al. A morphometric approach to track opium poppy domestication. Sci Rep [Internet]. 2021;11(1):9778. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88964-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Heyman GM, Mims V. What addicts can teach us about addiction: a natural history approach. In: Heather N, Segal G, editors. Addiction and choice: rethinking the relationship [Internet]. Oxford University Press; 2016. p. 385–408. Available from: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=psyh&AN=2016-47926-021&site=ehost-live.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  3. Booth M. Opium: a history. Simon & Schuster Ltd; 1996. p. 359.

    Google Scholar 

  4. López Eire A, Cortés Gabaudan F. Hierbas y plantas: Adormidera. Dioscórides interactivo. Sobre los remedios medicinales-manuscrito de Salamanca, 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Aziz E, Nathan B, McKeever J. Anesthetic and analgesic practices in Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine. Am J Chin Med. 2000;28(1):147–51.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Heydari M, Hashempur MH, Zargaran A. Medicinal aspects of opium as described in Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine. Acta Med Hist Adriat [Internet]. 2013 [cited 2021 Sep 15];11(1):101–12. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23883087/

  7. Robinson S, Adinoff B. The classification of substance use disorders: historical, contextual, and conceptual considerations. Behav Sci (Basel) [Internet]. 2016;6(3):1–23. Available from: http://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/6/3/18

    Google Scholar 

  8. Fernandez H, Libby TA. Heroin: its history, pharmacology, and treatment, vol. 148. 2nd ed. Hazelden Publishing; 2011. p. 148–62.

    Google Scholar 

  9. University of Southern California. Lin Zexu (LinTse-hsu) writing to Britain’s Queen Victoria to Protest the Opium Trade, 1839 | US-China Institute [Internet]. US-China Institute. 2021 [cited 2021 Sep 15]. Available from: https://china.usc.edu/lin-zexu-lintse-hsu-writing-britains-queen-victoria-protest-opium-trade-1839

  10. Presley CC, Lindsley CW. DARK classics in chemical neuroscience: opium, a historical perspective. ACS Chem Neurosci. 2018;9(10):2503–18.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Osler W. A Contribution to medical history: Thomas Dover, M.B. (of Dover’s Powder), physician and buccaneer. Lancet [Internet]. 1896;147(3775):4–7. Available from: https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0140673601606858

  12. The Lancet Commission. Sanitary condition of pur public schools [Internet]. 1875. Available from: https://ia800708.us.archive.org/view_archive.php?archive=/22/items/crossref-pre-1909-scholarly-works/10.1016%252Fs0140-6736%252802%252930549-x.zip&file=10.1016%252Fs0140-6736%252802%252930644-5.pdf.

  13. Engels F. The conditions of the working class in England, Oxford World’s classics. Oxford University Press; 1844.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Lawrence G. The hypodermic syringe. Lancet [Internet]. 2002;359(9311):1074. Available from: https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0140673602081011.

  15. Brook K, Bennett J, Desai SP. The chemical history of Morphine: an 8000-year journey, from resin to de-novo synthesis. J Anesth Hist [Internet]. 2017;3(2):50–55. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janh.2017.02.001.

  16. McCoy A. From free trade to prohibition: a critical history of the modern Asian opium trade. Fordham Urban Law J. 2000;28(1):307–49.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Austin GA. Perspectives on the history of psychoactive substance use [Internet]. Rockvile: National Institute on Drug Abuse; 1978. 280 p. Available from: https://books.google.com.mx/books?hl=es&lr=&id=UQE3rikfXSgC&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=Perspectives+on+the+history+of+psychoactive+substance+use&ots=oS59dkrNbj&sig=kbFIvuZEX3ujqIfg_-WVChrpoKA.

  18. Brownstein MJ. A brief history of opiates, opioid peptides, and opioid receptors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A [Internet]. 1993;90(12):5391–3. Available from: https://www.mendeley.com/viewer/?fileId=2748b363-305f-4311-6a3c-171b74a43332&documentId=6b4dc5ca-8403-3307-9265-ceb50db3e6ec

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Campbell ND. "A new deal for the drug addict": The Addiction Research Center, Lexington, Kentucky. J Hist Behav Sci [Internet]. 2006;42(2):135–57. Available from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jhbs.20167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Corbett AD, Henderson G, McKnight AT, Paterson SJ. 75 years of opioid research: the exciting but vain quest for the Holy Grail. Br J Pharmacol [Internet]. 2006;147(SUPPL. 1):153–62. Available from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jhbs.20167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Kosterlitz HW, Waterfield AA. The effect of the interval between electrical stimuli on the acetylcholine output of the myenteric plexus-longitudinal muscle preparation of the guinea-pig ileum. Br J Pharmacol [Internet]. 1970;40(1):162P–3P. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1702700/

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Cox BM. A concise review of concepts in opioid pharmacology up to the discovery of endogenous opioids. Mol Pharmacol [Internet]. 2020;98(4):392–400. Available from: http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/lookup/doi/10.1124/mol.120.119420

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Harris LS, May EL. Historical introduction and review of chemistry. Drug Alcohol Depend [Internet]. 1985;14(3–4):227–32. Available from: https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0376871685900584

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Pert CB, Pasternak G, Snyder SH. Opiate agonists and antagonists discriminated by receptor binding in brain. Science (80-). 1973;182(4119):1359–61.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Pert CB, Snyder SH. Opiate receptor binding of agonists and antagonists affected differentially by sodium. Mol Pharmacol. 1974;10(6):868–79.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Snyder SH, Pasternak GW. Historical review: opioid receptors. Trends Pharmacol Sci. 2003;24(4):198–205.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Maurice T, Su TP. The pharmacology of sigma-1 receptors. Pharmacol Ther [Internet]. 2009;124(2):195–206. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pharmthera.2009.07.001.

  28. McCoy AW. Coercion and its unintended consequences: a study of heroin trafficking in Southeast and South West Asia. Crime Law Soc Chang. 2000;33(3):191–224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Ciccarone D. The triple wave epidemic: supply and demand drivers of the U.S. opioid overdose crisis. Int J Drug Policy. 2019;71:183–8.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  30. Bardwell G, Boyd J, Tupper KW, Kerr T. "We don’t got that kind of time, man. We’re trying to get high!": exploring potential use of drug checking technologies among structurally vulnerable people who use drugs. Int J Drug Policy. 2019;71:125–32.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  31. Wilson N, Kariisa M, Seth P, Smith H, Davis NL. Drug and opioid-involved overdose deaths — United States, 2017–2018. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep [Internet]. 2020;69(11):290–7. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr61/

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Terry NR. Structural determinism amplifying the opioid crisis : It’s the healthcare, stupid !*. Northeast Univ Law Rev [Internet]. 2018;11(1):315–71. Available from: https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH-

    Google Scholar 

  33. Martin CS, Chung T, Langenbucher JW. Historical and cultural perspectives on substance use and substance use disorders. In: Sher KJ, editor. The Oxford handbook of substance use disorders, volume 1 [Internet]. Oxford University Press; 2014. p. 29–49. Available from: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=psyh&AN=2016-26127-001&site=ehost-live.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Nathan PE, Conrad M, Skinstad AH. History of the concept of addiction. Ann Rev Clin Psychol [Internet]. 2016;12(1):29–51. Available from: http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-021815-093546

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Cotman CW, McGaugh JL. Behavioral Neuroscience. New York: Academic Press; 1980. p. 857.

    Google Scholar 

  36. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 4th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 2000. p. 866.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Wu L-T, Ringwalt CL, Yang C, Reeve BB, Pan J-J, Blazer DG. Construct and differential item functioning in the assessment of prescription opioid use disorders among American adolescents. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry [Internet]. 2009;48(5):563–72. Available from: https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0890856709600733

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Wu L-T, Woody GE, Yang C, Pan J-J, Blazer DG. Abuse and dependence on prescription opioids in adults: a mixture categorical and dimensional approach to diagnostic classification. Psychol Med [Internet]. 2011;41(3):653–64. Available from: https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0033291710000954/type/journal_article

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders [Internet]. 5th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing; 2013. p. 947. Available from: https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/B0126574103004578

    Book  Google Scholar 

  40. Volkow ND, Blanco C. Medications for opioid use disorders: clinical and pharmacological considerations. J Clin Invest [Internet]. 2020;130(1):10–3. Available from: https://www.jci.org/articles/view/134708

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Poznyak V, Reed GM, Medina-Mora ME. Aligning the ICD-11 classification of disorders due to substance use with global service needs. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci. 2018;27(3):212–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. World Health Organization. ICD-11 - ICD-11 for mortality and morbidity statistics [Internet]. International Statistical Classification of diseases and related health problems. 2019. Available from: https://icd.who.int/browse11/l-m/en#/http%3A%2F%2Fid.who.int%2Ficd%2Fentity%2F1602669465.

  43. Kalivas PW, Volkow ND. The neural basis of addiction: a pathology of motivation and choice. Am J Psychiatry [Internet]. 2005;162(8):1403–1413. Available from: http://psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/appi.ajp.162.8.1403.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacobiology, Cinvestav, Mexico City, Mexico

    Silvia L. Cruz

  2. Opioids Working Group, Global Studies Seminar, Faculty of Medicine, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico

    Silvia L. Cruz & Claudia Rafful

  3. Faculty of Psychology, UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico

    Claudia Rafful

  4. Center for Global Mental Health Research, National Institute of Psychiatry Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz (INPRM), Mexico City, Mexico

    Claudia Rafful

Authors
  1. Silvia L. Cruz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Claudia Rafful
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Silvia L. Cruz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacobiology, Cinvestav, Mexico City, Mexico

    Silvia L. Cruz

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Cruz, S.L., Rafful, C. (2022). A Brief History of Opioids and the Evolution of Concepts Associated with Substance Use Disorders. In: Cruz, S.L. (eds) Opioids. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09936-6_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics