[TylerE]

Pure opium is fairly benign, as hard drugs go.

It's all the crap it gets cut with by shady dealers that kill people.

[libertyEQ]

Heroine (~1%), morphine(~5-13%), and codeine(~5-13%) are the active constituents in opium, which is a plant material consisting of many other benign substances. These discussions need to include factoids like these in order to be productive.

[CynicalDio]

This is incorrect. Opium does not contain any "Heroin" (Diacetylmorphine). The three major alkaloids contained I opium latex are Morphine, Codeine and Thebaine.