wirry1422
01-14-2004, 01:12 AM
From what i have read from a variety of government, medical, and pharma company sites, hydrocodone is considered by most to be equivalent in strength to oral morphine. So my question is, why is oral morphine a schedule II narcotic, while hydrocodone is a schedule III narcotic? I'm not complaining at all, but i was just thinking about it when i was reading one of those med equivalent charts, and i realized how strong hydrocodone is. Is the government not aware that hydrocodone is equal to oral morphine, or is there some other reason why hydrocodone remains on schedule III? Shore or anyone else, could you give me a hint to this mystery.
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vitonxl
01-14-2004, 03:27 AM
morphine is a schedule 4. Like oxicontin and demoral
MaryT
01-14-2004, 04:10 PM
Morphine is Schedule II because it is a pure opioid. If hydrocodone were available in pure form, it would be Schedule II also. However, in the U.S. we cannot get pure hydrocodone products - it is always mixed with acetaminophen, aspirin or ibuprofen, so it is Schedule III.
OxyContin and Demerol are also Schedule II meds. Schedule II meds are the strongest legally available in the U.S.
OxyContin and Demerol are also Schedule II meds. Schedule II meds are the strongest legally available in the U.S.
tyler7
01-14-2004, 07:58 PM
Hi MaryT
I just wanted to quickly comment on your reply. I'm not totally sure about the thing about Hydro being a Sched II if only it were pure form, because what about Percocet/Percodan? They're oxycodone mixed with tylenol/aspirin and they're Sched II's. I think Hydro is just Sched III based on its strength (whereas obviously Percs are stronger)
I'm not trying to be here finger pointing or flipping my nose at you or anything :) I just wanted to bring that up.
I just wanted to quickly comment on your reply. I'm not totally sure about the thing about Hydro being a Sched II if only it were pure form, because what about Percocet/Percodan? They're oxycodone mixed with tylenol/aspirin and they're Sched II's. I think Hydro is just Sched III based on its strength (whereas obviously Percs are stronger)
I'm not trying to be here finger pointing or flipping my nose at you or anything :) I just wanted to bring that up.
wirry1422
01-14-2004, 08:20 PM
Well if you think about it, hydrocodone is about equal in strength to morphine, but hydro only comes with other ingredients mixed in, so it is schedule III, whereas morphine is pure, so it is schedule II. Oxycodone comes with other ingredients or pure, but since it is stronger than hydro or morphine, it doesn't matter whether it is alone or not, it is always schedule II because of its strength. I'll bet if morphine only came in preparations with tylenol, etc., it might be schedule III as well. But who knows, morphine has a reputation as being extremely potent, which it is, in injectable form.
Shoreline
01-15-2004, 07:06 PM
Hey Guys, The scheduling system was devised to rate drugs for potential of abuse and diversion by the DEA in 72, It was part of the controlled drug act of 72.
Because Hydro is always mixed with apap it makes it much harder to create safe injectable material even by the sharpest junkies. It is a class 111 med, Class 11 are oxy products with or without apap and the other pure opiates and other drugs like amphetamines that can easily be turned into injectable material.
The Act was penned by the DEA. It's more than likely the purpose was to classify drugs for safety, ease of abuse and potential for abuse and diversion.
Although Hydro products are widely abused, they are dose restricted due to the apap and the apap is vitually impossible to completely remove without a huge distilation process to turn into injectable material. It can't be done in a spoon, therefore it's a lower risk for potential addiction, death, abuse and diversion.
The act gave drugs the class rating and had minimal to do with potentcy. Class 1 drugs were deemed to have no medical value and comonly referred to as narcotics even though they may have no opiate properties. Like LSD, Exstacy, etc.
Heroin was deemed to have no medical value where it still may be used in the UK and Formulations of Bromptons cocktail are still created with Heroin and used in Hopsice in the UK.
The act is available at the DEA web site. I'm pretty sure it was 72 , might have been the act of 70, I haven't read it in a while.LOL
I'll try and find a link, Take care, Shore
Because Hydro is always mixed with apap it makes it much harder to create safe injectable material even by the sharpest junkies. It is a class 111 med, Class 11 are oxy products with or without apap and the other pure opiates and other drugs like amphetamines that can easily be turned into injectable material.
The Act was penned by the DEA. It's more than likely the purpose was to classify drugs for safety, ease of abuse and potential for abuse and diversion.
Although Hydro products are widely abused, they are dose restricted due to the apap and the apap is vitually impossible to completely remove without a huge distilation process to turn into injectable material. It can't be done in a spoon, therefore it's a lower risk for potential addiction, death, abuse and diversion.
The act gave drugs the class rating and had minimal to do with potentcy. Class 1 drugs were deemed to have no medical value and comonly referred to as narcotics even though they may have no opiate properties. Like LSD, Exstacy, etc.
Heroin was deemed to have no medical value where it still may be used in the UK and Formulations of Bromptons cocktail are still created with Heroin and used in Hopsice in the UK.
The act is available at the DEA web site. I'm pretty sure it was 72 , might have been the act of 70, I haven't read it in a while.LOL
I'll try and find a link, Take care, Shore
Shoreline
01-15-2004, 07:12 PM
Hey guys, It was 1970, See even I make mistakes.LOL
Here is acopy of the act and amendments and it explains the classification in much greater detail. I'm not sure I want a DEA cooking in my machine but it's too late for that.LOL
http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/csa/812.htm#a
Take care, Shore
I realized I did stick some of my own opinion in the first post. I'm assuming the dea means that the risk for high physical dependence means IV use and the risk of low physical dependence means oral use. MY error if that was not their intention. I guess I used my own standard for what I considered High physical abuse. I'm sure oral can be as destructive as IV meds.
Here is acopy of the act and amendments and it explains the classification in much greater detail. I'm not sure I want a DEA cooking in my machine but it's too late for that.LOL
http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/csa/812.htm#a
Take care, Shore
I realized I did stick some of my own opinion in the first post. I'm assuming the dea means that the risk for high physical dependence means IV use and the risk of low physical dependence means oral use. MY error if that was not their intention. I guess I used my own standard for what I considered High physical abuse. I'm sure oral can be as destructive as IV meds.
wirry1422
01-15-2004, 11:36 PM
The combination of hydro with other compounds is proabably the true reason it remains schedule III even with widespread abuse. I hadn't originally thought of that, but now it makes more sense. But then again, when does the gov't make sense?