The Little Book of Opium [Paperback]

Debra Moraes (Author), Francis Moraes (Author)

Book Description

Series: Little Books (Ronin Publishing) | Publication Date: January 2003

Though few challenge the efficacy of opium as a pain reliever during its 7,000-year history, today it is feared more than revered. This book reviews its storied history and pharmacology in nontechnical terms, providing useful “harm reduction” information for those experimenting with the drug or its derivatives.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Ronin Publishing; 1st Edition edition (January 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0914171836
• ISBN-13: 978-0914171836
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,205,295 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor Chemistry, January 23, 2010

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Med Music Man (New York City) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Opium (Little Books (Ronin Publishing)) (Paperback)

On page 58 the author writes,"This causes such compounds to be elongated because two benzine rings are attached by a string of two hydrogen atoms." From the Wikipedia entry for the author: "Moraes trained as a research physicist and chemist and attained a Ph.D. in physics." These two quotations are hard to reconcile. On page 59, in a section titled "Morphine", a chemical structure labeled Morphine, is,in fact, the structure of Heroin. The book has no footnotes. It does contain a number of interesting statements, if they are true.

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but Poorly Edited, March 5, 2011

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Nom de Plume "Jimbo" (Monterey, CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Little Book of Opium (Paperback)

I bought this book because I found an opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) growing and blooming in a neighbor's garden and it spiked my curiosity. This book has a lot of interesting information that I had no way to fact-check, but it is a pretty good read. There are lots of spelling errors and the editing is abyssmal for a publication by somebody with a Doctor of Philosophy degree, but maybe he was on opium when he wrote it. It discusses not just opium, but many of its derivatives such as morphine, codeine, heroin, papaverine, and many more, including the synthetic opioids such as hydrocodone and oxycodone. Along with the factual information the writer has also inserted a lot of opinion, much with which I agree. Since it has been over 30 years since I took organic and biochemistry, I did not feel like cross checking his compound structure diagrams so will have to take them at face value. The long and the short of it is that opium and opioids are very valuable medical "tools", but if miused can take a very heavy toll on the users' life, and the various law-enforcement agencies in this country are much too hard-nosed in their treatment of users who otherwise do not commit criminal acts. I have no problem with addicts who commit thefts, burglaries, violent crimes and other felonies being dealt with harshly by our justice system, but apparently many addicts do not commit any crimes other than their possession and use of controlled substances. The latter need help and treatment, not jail and large fines.