Published March 10, 2021 · Reviewed by Sergey Litvinov, MD · ~656 words

People use opiate and opioid as if they were the same word. They are not, and if you are trying to work out what someone in your family is actually taking, the difference is worth knowing. An opiate is a drug, such as morphine, codeine, or opium, that comes straight from the flowering poppy plant. Opioid is the wider word. It covers those plant drugs and the lab-made ones like fentanyl, methadone, oxycodone or hydrocodone. Only the plant derivatives are opiates. Pines Recovery Life Detox can walk you through the difference and what treatment fits.

How opiate drugs are derived from the flowering poppy plant

Cut an unripe poppy seed pod and a milky substance leaks out. Growers have dried and sold that substance as opium for centuries. In countries such as India and Turkey, farmers grow it legally for medicinal use, which is where pharmaceutical companies get the raw material for drugs that relieve pain and lessen anxiety. Elsewhere it is grown illegally for the black market.

To make morphine, manufacturers crush the dried stem and pod of the poppy plant and treat them with acid. The mixture is processed several times to pull out the alkaloid, then purified into morphine.

Codeine is a by-product of opium production.

Medicinal uses for opiate drugs

Doctors around the world prescribe opiate drugs for a range of symptoms, including:

• Diarrhea
• Pain
• Cough
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome

America’s opioid crisis has pushed these drugs down the list. For anything short of severe pain they are no longer the first choice. End-stage cancer patients may still be given a strong opiate such as morphine to mask pain, and physicians use morphine after surgery for the pain of incisions.

Opiates carry a high risk of addiction, so physicians prescribe them less than they used to. They work, but each one has side effects that run from unpleasant to dangerous. People who take them over a long stretch, or outside a prescription, often need an opiate drug detox program to stop.

About opiate drugs: opium

Today, doctors prescribe opium mainly as a tincture to treat diarrhea. Side effects may include constipation, itching, nausea, vomiting, skin rash, or hives. Opium is a narcotic analgesic, legal only from your doctor, and it carries a high risk of addiction, so it is meant for short-term use.

About opiate drugs: morphine

Morphine is a powerful painkiller. After surgery it is often given in controlled doses through a pump the patient operates. Its main use is moderate to severe pain. Common side effects include:

• Drowsiness
• Dizziness
• Intestinal distress
• Constipation
• Nausea

Take a morphine prescription exactly as it is written. Like all opioids, too much morphine slows the heartbeat dangerously and can kill you by accident.

About opiate drugs: codeine

Codeine treats mild to moderate pain. It also suppresses cough and relieves diarrhea, which is why many prescription cough medicines contain it. Side effects include:

• Stomach pain
• Constipation
• Dizziness
• Vomiting
• Profuse sweating

Codeine may also be present in prescription pain relievers, combined with medications such as acetaminophen. It’s a narcotic analgesic that’s highly habit-forming.

Reach out to Pines Recovery Life Detox to learn more about opiate drug detox

The pills may have come from a pharmacy or from the street. Either way, stopping opiates is safer with medical help, and Pines Recovery Life Detox runs opiate drug detox. Call us today at 800.263.3869, or visit us online for more information.