Which among the following is a Narcotic analgesic drug ?

Correct — option (1), Morphine.

An analgesic is a drug used to relieve pain. A narcotic analgesic is one of the opium-type painkillers, which act on the central nervous system and can produce sleep and dependence.

Morphine is an opiate found naturally in opium, the dried latex of the opium poppy. It acts directly on the central nervous system to relieve pain, and physical and psychological dependence can develop with repeated use.

Indian law classes it the same way. The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, as enacted, lists morphine among opium derivatives; these are manufactured drugs, which the Act includes in its definition of narcotic drugs. So Morphine is the narcotic analgesic.

The idea to remember: morphine, from opium, is a narcotic analgesic; aspirin and paracetamol relieve pain without being opioids; arsphenamine treats infection, not pain.

Why the others are wrong

• (2)
  Arsphenamine — Arsphenamine is not a painkiller. Also called Salvarsan or compound 606, it is an arsenic-containing antimicrobial drug introduced in the early 1910s to treat syphilis, as well as relapsing fever and African trypanosomiasis.

  It was first synthesised in 1907 in Paul Ehrlich's laboratory by Alfred Bertheim, and Hoechst marketed it as Salvarsan in 1910.

• (3)
  Aspirin — Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). It reduces pain, fever and inflammation, and it also acts against blood clots, which is why it is used long-term to lower the risk of heart attack and stroke in high-risk patients.

  It relieves pain by a different route from morphine and is not an opioid.

• (4)
  Paracetamol — Paracetamol (acetaminophen) is an analgesic and antipyretic used for fever and mild to moderate pain, and it is available over the counter.

  It is a synthetic compound first made in the nineteenth century, not an opium alkaloid, so it does not belong with the narcotic analgesics.

Painkillers fall into broad groups. Opioids such as morphine act on the central nervous system; they relieve pain but can cause drowsiness and dependence, and serious side effects include reduced breathing effort.

Non-opioid analgesics include NSAIDs such as aspirin and ibuprofen, which also reduce inflammation, and paracetamol, which reduces pain and fever.

The name morphine comes from Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams: Friedrich Sertürner, who first isolated it in 1804, called it "morphium" because it tends to cause sleep.

Key facts

• Morphine is an opiate found naturally in opium, the dried latex of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum).
• Friedrich Sertürner first isolated morphine in 1804 and named it morphium after Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams.
• The NDPS Act, 1985 as enacted lists morphine, codeine and thebaine as opium derivatives, which count as narcotic drugs under the Act.
• Aspirin is an NSAID that reduces pain, fever and inflammation and also acts against blood clotting.
• Arsphenamine (Salvarsan, compound 606) was introduced in the early 1910s as a treatment for syphilis.

Common traps

• Treating every painkiller as a narcotic: aspirin and paracetamol are analgesics, but they are not opioids.
• Arsphenamine sounds like a painkiller name, but it is an arsenic-based antimicrobial introduced to treat syphilis.
• Morphine is not the only opium-related substance: the NDPS Act as enacted also lists codeine, thebaine and diacetylmorphine (heroin) among opium derivatives.

UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2013 here once that paper is published on this site.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Arsphenamine, also known as Salvarsan, was introduced in the early twentieth century as a treatment for

  • (a)malaria
  • (b)syphilis
  • (c)tuberculosis
  • (d)migraine
  Answer(2) — Arsphenamine was introduced in the early 1910s as a treatment for syphilis, and also for relapsing fever and African trypanosomiasis. Options (1), (3) and (4) are not diseases it was introduced to treat.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following drugs reduces pain, fever and inflammation and also acts against blood clotting?

  • (a)Morphine
  • (b)Aspirin
  • (c)Codeine
  • (d)Arsphenamine
  Answer(2) — Aspirin is an NSAID with anti-inflammatory and anti-clotting action. Options (1) and (3) are opium alkaloids listed as opium derivatives in the NDPS Act, and option (4) is an antimicrobial used against syphilis.