Heroin is a drug that is synthesized from morphine, a derivative of the opium poppy. First discovered in the late 1800s, it was originally marketed as a children’s cough suppressant as well as a cure for morphine addiction. That stopped two decades later when it was discovered that heroin is converted to morphine in the liver. Nonetheless, heroin is still used today – albeit not for medicinal reasons.
1874
English researcher, C.R. Wright first synthesizes heroin (diacetylmorphine) by boiling morphine over a stove.
1895
Heinrich Dreser working for Germany’s Bayer Company finds that diluting morphine with acetyls produces a drug without the common morphine side effects. Bayer begins production of diacetylmorphine and calls it “heroin.”
1898
The Bayer Company introduces heroin as a substitute for morphine.
Early 1900’s
A philanthropic society in the U.S. mounts a campaign to supply free samples of heroin to morphine addicts trying give up their habits.
1902
Physicians discuss the merits of using heroin to break morphine addiction. Some doctors argue against it, claiming their patients have suffered from heroin withdrawal symptoms.
1924
In the U.S., the Heroin Act makes manufacture and possession of heroin illegal.
1930’s
Most of the illegal heroin smuggled into North America comes from China.
1950’s
Heightened interest in curbing the spread of communism in Asia leads American political and military leaders to forge ties with warlords in the Golden Triangle, which includes Laos, Thailand and Burma. To strengthen these ties, the U.S. supplies the warlords with ammunition, arms and air transportation for the production and sale of opium. As a result, heroin flows into the U.S. and Canada.
1965-1970
The flow increases as the U.S. becomes entangled in the Vietnam War. Corsican criminals ship raw opium to Marseille, where it is refined and sent to the U.S. The heroin epidemic subsides when the war ends.
1978
Mexico is tapped as source of raw opium until U.S. and Mexican officials begin to spray poppy fields with Agent Orange. Another source of heroin is found in the Golden Crescent area: Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The trade of illegal heroin spikes again.
1988
The single largest heroin seizure is made in Bangkok. American officials believe the shipment of heroin that was headed to the U.S., originated from the Golden Triangle region, which was controlled by drug warlord, Khun Sa.
1992
Colombia’s drug lords are thought to be introducing a high-grade form of heroin into the U.S.
November 2000
Vancouver authorities bust a huge heroin smuggling ring, recovering more than 200 kg of the drug. They believe the drugs originated in Burma and travelled through Thailand en route to Canada. Dozens of people are arrested. Officials say Asian gangs have made Vancouver a major drug centre.
September 2003
A supervised heroin injection site, InSite, opens in Vancouver, the first one in North America. Officials estimate about 800 addicts will visit the site every day. The site is exempted from federal drug laws, but addicts are required to bring their own illegally purchased drugs with them. Officials hope the site will reduce the number of overdose deaths and curb AIDS and Hepatitis infections among drug users. The site is part of a national drug plan, and is funded by the federal and British Columbia provincial governments as a three-year research project and harm-reduction trial. The injection site is still in operation.
February 2005
Called the North American Opiate Medications Initiative and funded by the federal Canadian Institute of Health Research, the $8 million program allows health officials in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto to distribute for free daily doses of heroin to a small, screened group of longtime addicts. The program is intended to stabilize addicts as a way to stem drug-related crimes and the spread of blood-borne infectious diseases.
June 2007
The World Drug Report states that roughly 92 percent of the world’s heroin comes from opium poppies grown in Afghanistan.
August 2007
Paul Nadeau, the director of the RCMP’s drug branch in Ottawa, says about 60 per cent of the heroin on Canadian streets comes from Afghanistan.
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