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Opium and Heroin production in Burma
part 2
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When opium is refined into heroin, much of opium's medical value is lost, Although morphine (deacetylmorphine) remains in heroin, other opium alkaloids such as codeine (a cough suppressant), papaverine (a muscle relaxant), and narceine (an atispasmodic) are lost.
Dilutants and adulterants are often added to No. 3 heroin, which was first prepared as a smoking heroin. Dilutants, which do not have pharmacological activity, increase the bulk and, in turn, the seller's profit. A common dilutant in Southeast Asia is sugar. Conversely, adulterants are substances with pharmacological activity. Some, such as quinine, conceal the lack of heroin hydrochloride. Others, such as barbital and caffeine, are added to make the heroin more suitable for smoking. Another substance found in small quantities in heroin is strychnine, the physiological results of which are uncertain. Most No. 3 heroin is brown, but one particular kind, "red chicken," is dyed red and includes barbiral. Sometimes, adulterants and dilutants can cause serious side effects.
Because of such variations, it is difficult to determine the amount of opium used to produce a given amount of heroin. Although great variations occur among samples from various areas and different years, a rule of thumb is that 10 kilograms of opium yield 1 kilogram of heroin.
A sample of crude opium from the Shan States was tested in 1959 and found to contain an average of 11 percent morphine and 2.8 percent thebaine (Falck and Nordal, 1963: 2). Compared to opium produced elsewhere, this is rather high. Indian opium, by contrast, has only 7.4 percent morphine. Opium in Europe has higher concentrations; morphine content in samples from Yugoslavia have been measured as high as 14.7 percent and from France as high as 20 percent.
Furthermore, once the opium is processed into morphine (although the morphine content is a fixed biogenetic and chemical quality), moisture content affects estimates. The moisture content of opium, which can range from 25 to 46 percent, is an important variable. The previously listed figures, however, are for dried (anhydrous) opium (United Nations, 1967: 12, 32-33). Not all production calculation has been done in terms of dried opium, which is part of the reason why opium estimates vary so astonishingly.
source:
The Burmese Connection
Illegal drugs &
The making of The Golden Triangle
by Ronald D. Renard
A Project of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)
and the
United Nations University (UNU)
published by:
Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc.
1800 30th St. Boulder, Colorado 80301
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