Etorphine
Pronunciation:et-OR-feen
Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number:14521-96-1. (Hydrochloride form
13764-49-3)
Formal Names:Immobilon, M99
Informal Names:Elephant Juice
Type:Depressant (opiate class).Seepage 22
Federal Schedule Listing:Schedule I (DEA no. 9056). Hydrochloride form Sched-
ule II (DEA no. 9059)
USA Availability:Illegal to possess except in hydrochloride form, which is pre-
scription
Uses.This pain-relieving drug is derived fromthebaine. In jurisdictions
where etorphine is legal, it is used as a veterinary sedative. The substance is
powerful. Depending on dosage method and animal species receiving the
drug, its strength is estimated as anywhere from 10 times to 80,000 times that
ofmorphine, so a person administering the drug must be skilled in order to
avoid a serious overdose. The related Schedule II controlled substance dihy-
droetorphine is also powerful—10 to 10,000 times stronger than morphine.
Etorphine acts quickly. Veterinarians and naturalists use etorphine darts to
knock down wild elephants and grizzly bears. Zoos utilize the drug on white
rhinoceros, giraffes, and other animals when medical necessity requires them
to be unconscious.
Human tests show that etorphine can relieve intense pain without causing
unconsciousness. Tests using dihydroetorphine alone and in combination with
acupuncture have found the drug to be safe and effective for easing labor pain
in childbirth. The substance has relieved pain in cancer patients. Experiment-
ers suspect that as well as being a more powerful pain reliever than morphine,
dihydroetorphine may also be less likely to create dependence in a patient.
Opiates and other depressants normally interfere with physical perfor-
mance. Administered in a particular way, however, etorphine reliably pro-
duces a “paradoxical” effect (opposite to an expected effect) of increasing
athletic performance by stimulating physical activity while reducing pain.
Racehorses have been doped with the drug to make them run faster. Many
lovers of the sport disapprove of the practice not only for its illegality but
because the horse is harmed. Perhaps the most notorious incident occurred in