Codine

[the tree]

How addictive is codine?

Would you say that one dose is enough to cause mild addiction?

[silkworm]

It's actually spelled codeine and even though it's a synthetic opiate, it is still an opiate and has a structure that's similar to our pleasure endorphines. It's in the same class as opium, heroin, morphine. I only had the chance to take it for a short period of time in my life, and I very much enjoyed it. Anything can be addictive in one dose, it just depends on how you take things and deal with things, but I would say that one dose of codeine would make you love it forever. I know some people who don't take it well, but different strokes for different folks.

[aj47]

I doubt it, even one dose of heroin isn't going get you addicted (despite what the media say) and as far as I know codiene was originally synthesised from morphene as an alternative due to its less addictive qualities .

 

When I have bouts of severe headaches and flu etc I practically live on codiene and or cocodimol for days and so far I have had no withdrawals cravings etc.

 

I think its only if you take it in large quantities exceding usual dose looking for psycoactive effects that you'll run into danger of addition. That or if you a junkie and start taking it intraveniously.

[prion]

codeine metabolises to morphine in the body, as does heroin (diamorphine) so is potentially just as addictive, it's just a very different method of delivery and different concentration of it in your body

[the tree]

Thanks, I've guess I needent worry. But I'll avoid accepting prescription painkillers off friends from now on.

[aj47]

The physical addiction may be the same, but with almost all drugs including heroin, it is the psycological addiction that keeps the person using the substance to start with and physical addiction kicks in a lot later.

 

As codiene does not produce highs anywhere near the class A opiates, it is generally thought of as less addicitive psycologicaly so is less habit forming and likely to be abused.

[jdurg]

Woah. First off, codeine is most definitely NOT synthetic. It is a naturally occuring opiate which comes from the poppy plant just as morphine does. Raw opium is a tarry mixture containing specific proportions of morphine, codeine, and another natural opiate whose name escapes me. Synthetic opiates are heroin (Di-acetylmorphine), oxycodone, vicodin, dihydrocodeine, etc. Codeine is a less potent opiate than morphine is because of its chemical structure. It is unable to cross the blood/brain barrier as effectively so it is not able to work as quickly or potently. (Heroin is incredibly potent as it crosses the blood/brain barrier with ease and is metabolised into morphine inside the brain tissue. Hence it delivers a massive quantity of morphine directly to the brain).

 

When you take codeine or morphine in the form of a pill, the overall effectiveness of the drug drops off dramatically. Almost ALL of the drugs that go through your stomach are metabolized by the liver before it gets into your circulatory system. (Unless it can pass through your stomach, or you ingest a great deal of it). The liver is incredibly effective at metabolizing opiates so a very small percentage of the codeine or morphine that you ingest makes it into your brain. This is the reason why addicts will either inject or smoke the substances. (So that they can avoid the hepatic metabolism). In addition, the likelyhood of an addiction, or even a great "high" from taking a codeine or morphine tablet is pretty low.

 

aj47, you were ALMOST right about codeine being synthesized as an alternative to morphine. If you replace "codeine" with "heroin" then you would be correct. It is VERY horribly ironic in retrospect how heroin came to be. I believe it was in the late 1800's when doctors were noticing that a lot of their patients were abusing morphine and codeine and they wanted to develop an alternative that would be just as effective at suppressing coughs and being an expectorant, but did not have all the addictive qualities. Researchers came up with an alternative which could easily be made from morphine. This alternative was diacetylmorphine. The problem is that they NEVER did any type of actual trials on the stuff to see if it was any less addictive. They just announced their findings and called it the "heroin" of the modern age. (They named it like a female as it was the "in" thing to do). The Bayer corporation bought the drug and started marketing it like crazy, but pretty soon the reality of how bad it is showed through and it's been a plague of society ever since.

[badchad]

Quick side note: heroin use by American soldiers in vietnam is often used in studying what exactly causes "addiction". (more specifically, whether a substance can be intrinsically addicitve).

 

For instance, nearly 35% of soldiers used heroin in vietnam. However, when they returned home, few (if any) continued to use the drug. This sets the premise for the debate on what other factors contribute to "addiction".