Text File | 1992-01-24 | 588 b | 5 lines | [04] ASCII Text (0x0000)
Morphine is a powerful narcotic analgesic derived from opium. A bitter, white, crystalline alkaloid, morphine was the first pure opiate drug to be isolated from opium (1813) and comprises 10 percent of the weight of raw opium.
Much stronger than opium itself, morphine became widely used and abused by the 20th century. It was used heavily during the United States Civil War to relieve pain.
Morphine is useful as a powerful pain killer; however, it quickly causes psychological dependence followed by physical dependence. Among abusers today, heroin is preferred over morphine.
