Profile Facts: Heroin

The chemical analysis of opium in the 19th century revealed that most of its activity could be ascribed to two alkaloids, codeine and morphine. Diacetylmorphine was first synthesized in 1874 by C. R. Alder Wright, ..... Conviction for trafficking in heroin carries the death penalty in most Southeast Asian, some East Asian and Middle Eastern countries (see Use of death penalty worldwide for details), among which Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand are the most strict. ...