Counting Our Opioid Predicament by Numbers Elizabeth Tien, PharmD, BCPS and Chenshan Zhou, PharmD The opioid epidemic began with one plant, the opium poppy. Long known throughout history for its medicinal properties, early scrolls documented its analgesic and euphoric uses. 1 Isolation of its active ingredient, morphine, did not occur until 1805 by Friedrich Wilhelm Adam Sertürner, and mass production of morphine followed several decades later. 1 Gaining more wide spread use as time passed, the presence of addiction arose during the time of the Civil War. 2 As we continue into the twenty-first century, abuse and misuse of opioids have rapidly grown and continue ...