تسجيل الدخول

تسجيل

Synthetic Narcotics

المؤلف:  Max M. Houck، Jay A. Siegel

المصدر:  Fundamentals of Forensic Science

الجزء والصفحة:  p334-335

2026-08-08

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Synthetic Narcotics

Besides the naturally occurring narcotics, there are also a number of synthetic narcotics that are still prescribed for pain. These include Demerol (meperidine), oxycodone, hydrocodone, fentanyl, and many others. Of the members of this group, a few bear special mentioning. Methadone is a synthetic narcotic that is used in the United States as a heroin substitute to get addicts off of heroin under close medical supervision. Fentanyl (China White) is the backbone of a series of designer drugs, illegal substances that are synthesized with particular pharmacological characteristics designed for abuse purposes. Oxycodone (Percodan), is, at the time this is being written, making a large comeback in the United States as an abused drug and is known as “Oxycontin.” Fatal overdoses among young users are skyrocketing. The preferred illicit narcotic for many years in the United States has been heroin. The preferred mode of ingestion of heroin has been by intravenous injection. Because addicts often have difficulty getting sterile needles, they often contract blood-borne diseases such as hepatitis or AIDS from sharing contaminated syringes. Another problem with heroin use over the years has been purity. Over the years purity has varied from less than 3% to more than 10%. This has led to many problems with overdosing, where the user may take a more potent dose than he or she is used to. Along with this is the often-bizarre variety of cutting agents used in heroin, some of which can cause illness or even death. Heroin addiction is also expensive and because some addicts cannot hold down a job or earn money, they must steal to support their habit. This causes inflated crime rates traceable to the drug abuse and fills our prisons with addicts.

FIGURE 1 Some elixirs containing controlled substances. Demerol, Metha jade, and Dilauded are all synthetic narcotics. Dexedrine is an amphetamine and Dexamyl is a combination of an amphetamine and a barbiturate. These bottles were seized from a thief who was trying to steal them from the storage room of a drug store.