Dextromoramide
Pronunciation:deks-troh-MOHR-a-meyed
Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number:357-56-2. (Tartrate form 2922-
44-3)
Formal Names:Alcoid, Dauran, Dimorlin, Jetrium, Linfadol, Moramide, Narcolo,
Palfium, Troxilan
Type:Depressant (opioid class).Seepage 24
Federal Schedule Listing:Schedule I (DEA no. 9613)
USA Availability:Illegal to possess
Pregnancy Category:None
Uses.This drug was first identified in the 1950s. It has no officially sanc-
tioned medical role in the United States but is used elsewhere for pain control
in conditions such as kidney stone attacks, cancer, surgery, or injury. A case
report tells of a person who used this drug to diminish pain during self-
mutilation. Dextromoramide can provide relief when standard opiates fail.
Although generally classified as an opioid (a synthetic chemical) the drug is
produced from unripenedopiumseeds and is 2 to 70 times stronger than
morphine, depending on the animal species being tested and the effect being
measured. Dextromoramide acts quickly; authorities disagree on how long its
effects last.
Drawbacks.Unwanted effects can include nausea, vomiting, perspiration,
rapid pulse, breathing impairment, urinary difficulty, lowered body temper-
ature and blood pressure, and dizziness. Compared to morphine, dextro-
moramide is less likely to cause constipation or sleepiness. Euphoria can occur.
Persons taking dextromoramide are generally warned against driving cars or
running other dangerous machinery. A case report mentions a drug abuser’s
serious, but curable, heart damage caused by injecting crushed oral tablets of
dextromoramide.
Abuse factors.Dextromoramide is chemically related tomethadone, and
some researchers believe that dextromoramide could be a useful supplemental
drug for addicts being treated in methadone maintenance programs. Mor-
phine and dextromoramide have enough cross-tolerance to prevent morphine
withdrawal symptoms. Dextromoramide itself is addictive; around 1990 a sur-
vey of 150 methadone patients in London found that 7 were being treated for