Morphine is an opiate drug extracted from ‘opium poppy’ plant. The word ‘morphine’ is derived from the Greek word ‘Morpheus’ which is the name of Greek god of dreams. It is called morphine due to the relaxing, pain reliving and sleep inducing effects produced by it. Also, when consumed in high doses, it produces feelings of euphoria that are often described as a dream like state by the users. Morphine can be highly addictive when abused. It is only prescribed by the doctor to relieve pain after a major surgery or operation.
Morphine is a very potent pain killer which works by blocking the transmission of pain signals between the body and brain. It also produces calming effects by slowing down blood pressure, heart and respiratory rate. Because of relaxing and euphoric effects produced by it, it is highly addictive.
Physically, morphine appears to be a crystalline compound that can take various forms depending upon the purpose it is being used for. For medicinal purposes, morphine is usually administrated in two forms:
- Oral administration in the form of morphine sulphate tablets
- Injecting morphine solution directly into blood stream
Morphine is a given a number of different brand names and slang terms. Some common brand names under which morphine is sold include:
- Roxanol
- Kadian ER
- Morphine Sulphate ER
- MS Contin
- Kapanol
- Morphabond
- Oramorph SR
Some of the common street names given to morphine are:
- Monkey
- Dreamer
- White Stuff
- Aunti Em
- Aunti
- Morph
- Drone
- TNT
- Tango and Cash
- Dance Fever
- Murder 8
- Goodfella
These names are commonly used by the recreational users to refer to the drug in an attempt to conceal the usage.