OFFICIAL NAMES: Morphine sulfate or morphine hydrochloride (solutions for injection), Duramorph (for spinal use), MS Contin and Oramorph SR (long-acting, controlled release oral form), Kadian (oral, sustained release), MSIR (instant release), Roxanol (liquid concentrate)

STREET NAMES: M, morph, Miss Emma, monkey, white stuff

DRUG CLASSIFICATIONS: Schedule II, opiate

Overview

Morphine is the most active part of opium, a pure chemical isolated from the dried sap of the unripe poppy pod. Even today, morphine is still made from poppies. It is the prototype opiate, the parent from which all the others sprang. But efforts over the past two centuries to separate the beneficial aspects of opiates from their social drawbacks have failed. Even totally synthetic drugs that mimic morphine and the other opiates remain utterly linked to addiction.

At the turn of the nineteenth century, opium was an important part of medical practice. By the...