Ted Audio Collective

This is Ted Health.

I'm your host, Dr. Shoshana Ungerlider.

In recent years, the growing opioid crisis has led to an exponential rise in accidental

deaths from drug overdose.

But how do we get here?

In his May 2020 Ted Ed Talk, educator Mike Davis tells the story of how these drugs came

from a flower and why quitting them is much more complex than you might think.

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More than 3,000 years ago, a flower began to appear in remedies in ancient Egyptian medical

texts.

Across the Mediterranean, the ancient Minoans likely found ways to use the same plant for

its high.

Both ancient civilizations were onto something.

Opium, an extract of the poppy in question, can both induce pleasure and reduce pain.

Though opium has remained in use ever since, it wasn't until the 19th century that

one of its chemical compounds, morphine, was identified and isolated for medical use.

...