Oxycodone was first synthesized in Germany from an opiate alkaloid called Thabane, sometimes called

paramorphine, which itself is an organic compound that can be derived from the poppy plant

and serves as a constituent of opium.

Thebane is a Class A drug in the United Kingdom, a controlled analog of a Schedule II drug in the United States,

and considered to be a Schedule 1 substance in Canada.

So although it's not a key drug unto itself throughout most of the world,

it's a component of other more popular and widely disseminated drugs, and thus regulated

pretty heavily just about everywhere such regulations exist.

Oxycodone, which, again, was originally synthesized at the beginning of the 20th century

in Germany from Thebane, was available on the market shortly after its initial

derivation, but didn't see widespread use until mid-1939 when it was introduced to the U.S. market,

though it did become popular in a limited way throughout Europe in the 30s leading up to

World War II due to Nazi Germany's enthusiastic

use of it on the battlefield as an analgesic. And it was especially well suited for that task,

because in addition to lessening the patient's perception of pain, it also triggered a state of euphoria,

tranquilization, and enterograde amnesia, meaning those who were dosed with oxycodone

after being injured would often forget, or at least forget the details and perceptual

experience of, the thing that led to their injury, which could help

in some cases with the psychological aspect of being seriously injured. Notes, written by Adolf

Hitler's personal physician, which were made public after the war, indicated that Hitler

received frequent injections of oxycodone

throughout the conflict, and other documents have shown that this drug and other similar opiates,

...