• Question: what is codeine?

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      Asked by 655drud32 to Anne, Florence, Mark, Neil, Sinead on 13 Nov 2015.
      • Photo: Neil Day

        Neil Day answered on 13 Nov 2015:

        Hi 655drud32
        Codeine is a powerful pain reliever. it is an opiate and is in the same class of pain relievers as morphine.
        Although it’s a powerful pain reliever it also can be addictive if inappropriately used. Therefore it’s use is heavily controlled.
        I used work with codeine in a former role and every use of it had to be monitored and had to be stored in a lock room.

      • Photo: Florence McCarthy

        Florence McCarthy answered on 15 Nov 2015:

        Codeine is an analogue of morphine where a methyl group has been added and is used for pain relief or as a cough medicine. Over the counter medicines containing Codeine have become more regulated in the past few years and only the pharmacist is allowed to sell them due to concerns about overuse.

      • Photo: Sinead Balgobin

        Sinead Balgobin answered on 16 Nov 2015:

        Codeine is a pain relief drug from the opioid family, which also includes morphine and heroin (they are very similar in structure and activity). Like it’s siblings, it is very addictive, and can be dangerous, so we have to be careful with its use.

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