# How are illegal opiates & amphetamines different from their medical/prescription counterparts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 17, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-illegal-opiates-amphetamines-different-from-their-medical-prescription-counterparts/567989 "2011-01-17T20:31:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-illegal-opiates-amphetamines-different-from-their-medical-prescription-counterparts/567989/21 "2011-01-18T19:40:06Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > [Not quite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin). From that exact link: “Diacetylmorphine was first synthesized in 1874 by C. R. Alder Wright, an English chemist working at St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London. He had been experimenting with combining morphine with various acids. He boiled anhydrous morphine alkaloid with acetic anhydride for several hours and produced a more potent, acetylated form of morphine, now called diacetylmorphine.” ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-illegal-opiates-amphetamines-different-from-their-medical-prescription-counterparts/567989/22 "2011-01-18T19:58:44Z")
> [@snailboy](#): > > Are you suggesting that drugs taken orally can’t get you high? I assure you, that’s not true. Even heroin can get you high when eaten; it just takes a lot more of it and you don’t get the rush. > > Also, injecting (and probably insufflating) codeine can cause embolisms. It’s not a good idea… I’m saying **njtt** wasn’t getting high because she wasn’t trying that hard. She wasn’t taking heroin by mouth. She was taking something specifically made to be taken by mouth and for pain. Not taking it in a method specifically to get her high. She was taking it as prescribed and therefore wasn’t getting anything resembling a high. ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-illegal-opiates-amphetamines-different-from-their-medical-prescription-counterparts/567989/23 "2011-01-18T22:43:52Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Eh? That says exactly what he said (except that “purified” is an oversimplification). Except that purified isn’t correct at all. It’s acetylized which completely changes what chemical it is, albeit to a similar one. It would be like saying water is a purified form of hydrogen peroxide. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-illegal-opiates-amphetamines-different-from-their-medical-prescription-counterparts/567989/24 "2011-01-19T01:06:49Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > From that exact link: > > “Diacetylmorphine was first synthesized in 1874 by C. R. Alder Wright, an English chemist working at St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London. He had been experimenting with combining morphine with various acids. He boiled anhydrous morphine alkaloid with acetic anhydride for several hours and produced a more potent, acetylated form of morphine, now called diacetylmorphine.” In other words, it **isn’t** a “purified version of morphine”. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-illegal-opiates-amphetamines-different-from-their-medical-prescription-counterparts/567989/25 "2011-01-19T02:38:15Z")
> [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](#): > > Heroin is chemically Diactyl-Morphine. I think Diactyl Morphine was a kind of dinosaur that put its prey to sleep before killing it… > [@](#): > > Pretty much all of the opiods works the same way, just a matter of how “strong” they are, and how much gets absorbed from the GI tract. For example, 20mg of Oxycodone is equivalent to 30mg of Morphine (both given orally). It’s important to remember also that abusers, at least the ones deliberately seeking a rush, may take much larger doses of any drug than would be used therapeutically. For example, ccording to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphetamine#Overdose), high doses of amphetamine can result in hallucinations, among other things. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-illegal-opiates-amphetamines-different-from-their-medical-prescription-counterparts/567989/26 "2011-01-19T13:47:47Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > I’m saying **njtt** wasn’t getting high because she wasn’t trying that hard. She wasn’t taking heroin by mouth. She was taking something specifically made to be taken by mouth and for pain. Not taking it in a method specifically to get her high. She was taking it as prescribed and therefore wasn’t getting anything resembling a high. [You too](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=588172), huh? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-illegal-opiates-amphetamines-different-from-their-medical-prescription-counterparts/567989/27 "2011-01-19T19:44:56Z")
> [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](#): > > Pretty much all of the opiods works the same way, just a matter of how “strong” they are, and how much gets absorbed from the GI tract. For example, 20mg of Oxycodone is equivalent to 30mg of Morphine (both given orally). Just noticed this part and had to mention how it’s very slightly wrong. There are some opioids that won’t get you high at all. For instance, loperamide is found in over-the-counter anti-diarrhea medicines. It doesn’t cross the blood-brain barrier in sufficient amounts to cause euphoria and analgesia. It only slows down peristalsis (the flow of food through the intestines). Also, there are different types of opioid receptors and if I recall correctly, different opioids can trigger different receptors. However, as far as I know, the mu-opioid receptor is the only one that causes euphoria so I wouldn’t expect highs to vary much between different opioids. However, from accounts I’ve read, it does actually vary some beyond just intensity. Supposedly people feel more energetic on oxycodone than hydrocodone, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-illegal-opiates-amphetamines-different-from-their-medical-prescription-counterparts/567989/28 "2011-01-19T20:08:18Z")
Hence my use of the phrase “pretty much” 🙂 There are a couple different opioid receptors, with the mu receptor being one of the most important ones. Though, if you want to be REALLY technically, loperamide does work the same way as most of the other opioid, it acts mainly on the mu receptors. However, due to it’s structure, very little crosses the BBB (as you mentioned), and the little that does, is actually actively transported out of the brain. It’s mechanism of action is the same, just the site of action is different. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-illegal-opiates-amphetamines-different-from-their-medical-prescription-counterparts/567989.md?page=1)