Drugs Timeline

• Opium derivatives, opiates from the juice of the poppy plant have been used thousands of years
  1. Laudanum (tincture of opium) made up of ethyl alcohol (20% to 80%), 10% powdered opium, sugars, saffron (spice) and essential oils. Recorded use is from the time of the Renaissance for a variety of ailments. In 1900 its Alcohol content was commonly 48% but today 18%.
  2. Morphine, chief ingredient in opium, isolated in 1804 by a German chemist. Chemical makeup C₁₇H₁₉NO₃
  3. Codeine, just 10% the impact of morphine, isolated in France in 1832. Chemical makeup C₁₈H₂₁NO₃
  4. Heroin, semi-synthetic derivative of morphine, discovered in 1897 by chemist Felix Hoffmann at Bayer pharmaceutical company in Elberfeld Germany. Chemical makeup C₂₁H₂₃NO₅
  5. Oxycodone, derivative of codeine, first synthesized in 1916. Chemical makeup C₁₈H₂₁NO₄
  6. Demerol (Pethidine) first synthesized in 1938. Chemical makeup C₁₅H₂₁NO₂ + HCl acid salt
  7. Fentanyl, synthetic opioid derived from Demerol, first synthesized in Belgium by Paul Janssen at Janssen Pharmaceutica in 1959. Chemical makeup C₂₂H₂₈N₂O + C₆H₈O₇ citric acid salt
• Stimulants eg MDMA (Ecstasy), first synthesized in 1912 by Merck chemist Anton Kollisch, developed 1970s-1980s. Chemical makeup C₁₁H₁₅NO₂ + HCl acid salt

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