There have been recorded weird instances of people being detected as heroin or morphine addicts through urine sample tests whereas in reality, they haven’t had even touched something even as mild as marijuana in their entire life. It was indeed shocking for all of them; the only addiction they had was bagels! Or, to be more precise, poppy seed bagels, the ingredients for which imitate heroin. But we need to know what opiates are before we proceed any further.
Opiates are drugs derived from the opium plant and come under five main categories:Morphine, Codeine, Heroin, Thebaine and Papaverine. Among these, Morphine and Heroin share a similar chemical structure and morphine, many-a-times an active ingredient in prescription drugs, gives positive results in medical tests. However, if we talk about mass usage, codeine beats the former two. It works the same way asmorphine, while thebaine and papaverine are the most potent, most toxic and the most dangerous opium alkaloids. Though they are used in converted forms (e.g.oxycodone), an overdose can be equally lethal, especially when used as a treatment for erectile dysfunction.
Side effects include both psychological and physical dependence, muscle fitfulness, difficulty in breathing, gastrointestinal disorders, hypotension, drowsiness, disorientation and in worst cases, coma. All these prove opiate addiction to trigger central nervous system disorders, which also makes the brain cells stop generating natural endorphins. A sudden withdrawal thus subjects the system to a massive shock starting with cold turkey and resulting in damaging permanently the central nervous and the cardiopulmonary system. Thus, only a rapid detoxification program can only prove a painless withdrawal procedure from opiates, though risks of psychosis, delirium, suicidal tendencies and acute heart rhythm and renal failures and even death can’t be rules out completely. This is why the opiate against drugs came into being; these drugs combine with a receptor on a cell to produce the required physiological reaction. Methadone and LAAM (levo-alpha-acetylmethadol) are the examples for these, while Clonidine, administered through trans-dermal patches, reaches a steady effectiveness within 48 hours. But it does so at the cost of a lowered blood pressure and sedation.