Opium is a narcotic resin produced from opium poppies "(Papaver somniferum)". It contains up to 16% morphine, an opiate alkaloid, which is most frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the black market. The resin also has non-narcotic alkaloids in it. Some of these are papaverine and noscapine. Opium is also known as "afeem", and was called ""God's Own Medicine"" during its time of greatest popularity. It can be yellow or dark brown, and has a bitter taste.
Opium has been used and produced for thousands of years. During this time, the source plant has been changed and adapted. The methods of processing the plant, and extracting substance and consuming it also have changed. The medicinal use of poppies for pain relief dates back to ancient times, but widespread use in patent medicines or as a recreational drug has occurred only in the last few centuries. Drug prohibition laws in most countries were introduced in the 20th century. Today the opium crop is worth in excess of $400 million legally and $7 billion illegally, after processing. Opium has caused many wars in China, such as the Opium Wars, because of heavy addiction to the drug. People who become addicted to opium become dull, lazy, and even sleepy. Opium itself is a very harmful and addictive ingredient and comes in many other forms of illegal drugs; including Heroin and/or Diamorphine.
Health Risks
Health risks include, overdose, respiratory depression, risk of HIV if injected, and risk of permanent brain dulling if used for prolonged periods of time.
Union for a Popular Movement
The Union for a Popular Movement (French: "Union pour un Mouvement Populaire", UMP), was the main French centre-right political party. It was formed in 2002. On 30 May 2015, it was replaced by The Republicans.
The party had an absolute majority in the National Assembly but lost its majority in the Senate in September 2011. The UMP is a member of the European People's Party (EPP), of the Christian Democrat International (CDI) and of the International Democrat Union (IDU).
Since the 1980s, the political groups of the parliamentary right joined forces around the values of economic liberalism and the building of Europe. Their rivalries had contributed to their 1981 and 1988 electoral defeats. Therefore, some politicians were in favour of the formation of a confederation, a party.
UMP was founded from the merger of the Gaullist-conservative Rally for the Republic ("Rassemblement pour la République", RPR), the conservative-liberal Liberal Democracy ("Démocratie Libérale", DL), and a part of the centrist Union for French Democracy ("Union pour la Démocratie Française", UDF). Many Christian Democrats (such as Philippe Douste-Blazy and Jacques Barrot), the social-liberal Radical Party and the centrist Popular Party for French Democracy (both associate parties to UDF until 2002) joined the party.
The party was thus born out of the meeting of four major French political traditions: Gaullism, Liberalism (Republicanism), Christian Democracy (Popularism) and Radicalism.
The UMP generally supported the policies of President Jacques Chirac. However, in 2004, the party showed increasing signs of independence. The unpopularity with the electorate of Jacques Chirac and Jean-Pierre Raffarin's government led most members of the UMP to support Nicolas Sarkozy, a rival of Chirac. The party also publicly disapproved of Turkey's proposed membership in the European Union, which Chirac was in favour of.
The first president of the UMP, Alain Juppé, a close associate of Jacques Chirac, resigned on 15 July 2004. On 29 November 2004, Nicolas Sarkozy announced that he would officially take over the presidency of the UMP.
In the 2004 French regional elections the UMP suffered a heavy blow, securing only 2 out of 22 regions in Metropolitan France and half of the departments. This led to the fall of the Jean-Pierre Raffarin government (2001-04), and to the formation of a new cabinet, presided by another UMP politician, Dominique de Villepin.
On 22 April 2007 Nicolas Sarkozy won most of the votes in the first round of the 2007 presidential election. In the second round, he faced Socialist Candidate Ségolène Royal. On 6 May 2007 he won the Presidential election, garnering 53.35% of the vote.
Oxycodone
Oxycodone is a medicine that is used to treat pain. This kind of pain medicine is called an "analgesic".
Oxycodone is a man-made opioid. This means that in the body, it acts like morphine, a powerful, natural painkiller. The chemical elements in oxycodone are very similar to codeine, another natural painkiller.
Oxycodone is a generic drug. It has many different brand names.
Some forms of oxycodone get released into the body right away. These are short-acting forms of oxycodone - they start working quickly, but do not last very long. The most common brand names for short-acting oxycodone are OxyIR and Roxicodone.
Other forms of oxycodone have a special coating that makes just a little bit of the medicine get released into the body at a time. A small amount of oxycodone is released, non-stop, into the body for up to 12 hours. The goal is to have the same amount of painkiller in the body all the time. These are called long-acting, extended-release, or controlled-release forms of oxycodone. They do not start working quickly, but they last a long time. The most common brand name for controlled-release oxycodone is OxyContin.
Oxycodone is often mixed together with other pain medicines. For example:
Since 2014, a new mixture has been created. It is a mixture of oxycodone and naloxone. Its goal is to stop people from abusing long-acting oxycodone. (See the "Addiction" section lower on this page). People sometimes abuse long-acting oxycodone (OxyContin) by chewing, crushing, snorting, or injecting the pills. When oxycodone is mixed with naloxone, if the medicine is swallowed by mouth, like it is supposed to be, the oxycodone works like normal. But if the medicine is chewed, crushed, or dissolved, the naloxone inside is released. The naloxone keeps the oxycodone from working in the brain. This makes it impossible for the person to get the good feelings they wanted to get from abusing the oxycodone.
Oxycodone can be given in many different ways. These are called "routes of administration" (which means "ways of giving a medicine").
Oxycodone starts working the quickest if it is given by one of these routes:
Oxycodone starts working a little more slowly if it is given by one of these routes:
Oxycodone starts working the slowest, but lasts the longest, if it is given:
Most people who take oxycodone exactly as their doctor prescribes it do not get addicted to oxycodone.
But people can get addicted to oxycodone if they misuse it - for example, by taking it without a doctor's prescription, or taking more than the doctor prescribed. Some people like the good feeling they get when they take oxycodone. They may keep taking more and more oxycodone to keep getting that good feeling. This can lead to addiction.
Oxycodone abuse, addition, and overdoses have become much more common recently.
People can die from overdosing on oxycodone (taking too much). Too much oxycodone shuts down the part of the brain that tells us to breathe. This can cause respiratory failure - where the body is not getting enough oxygen to survive. Every part of the body needs oxygen to live, and without enough oxygen, parts of the body - like the brain - will start to die. Eventually, a person's breathing can stop. If they do not get help right away, their heart will stop and they will die.
There is a medicine called naloxone (Narcan) that can reverse some oxycodone overdoses. Once it is given, the naloxone throws the oxycodone off of the spots on the brain they are attached to. Naloxone attaches there instead. This stops the effects of the oxycodone and helps the brain's breathing center start working more normally again.