Time-Release History of the Opioid Epidemic

This Brief takes the reader on a chemical journey by following the history for over two centuries of how an opiate became an opioid, thus spawning an empire and a series of crises. These imperfect resemblances of alkaloids are both natural and synthetic substancesthat, particularly in America, are continually part of a growing concern about overuse.This seemed an inviting prospectfor those in pain, but as the ubiquitous media coverage continuesto lay bare, the levelsof abuse pointto the fact that perhapsan epidemicisupon us, if not a culture war. Seeking answers to howand whythis addiction crisis transpired over two hundred years of long development, thisBrief examines the role that the chemistry laboratory played in turning patients into consumers. By utilizing a host of diverse sources, this Brief seeks to trace thedesign andthe production of opioids and their antecedents over the past two centuries. Fromthe isolation and developmentof the first alkaloids with morphine that relieved pain within the home and on the battlefield, to the widespread use of nostrums and the addiction crisis that ensued, to the disseminationof drugs by what became known as Big Pharma after the World Wars; and finally, to competition from home-made pharmaceuticals, the progenitor was always, insome form, atype of chemistry lab.At times, the laboratory pressed science to think deeply about society's maladies, such as curing disease and alleviating pain, in order to look for new opportunities in the name of progress. Despite the best intentions opioids have created a paradox of pain as they were manipulated by creating reliefwith synthetic precision and influencing a dystopian vision. Thus, influence came in many forms, from governments, from the medical community, and from theentrepreneurial aspirations of the general populace.For better, but mostly for worse, all played a role in changingforever the trajectoryofwhat started with the isolation of a compound in Germany.Combining chemistry and history inarousing new long-form narrative that even broadens the definition ofa laboratory,the originsand future of this complicated topicare carefully examined.