Oxymorphone is currently marketed under the name
Numorphan. It is a
synthetic narcotic analgesic classified under
DEA Schedule II. It has 5-7 times the potency of
morphine, without the constipative effects, and has a rush and
addiction potential very similar to (or better than) that of
heroin. Due to
abuse, the
oral version was withdrawn from the market...
ENDO (what a great name) once made a blue tablet which was the purest sensation of morphine that one could imagine. It sold for $50 on the street, but one could break it in two, even if one was a stone cold junkie.
The wonder of this pill was twofold:
First, the color of the red blood co-mingling with the blue fluid in the needle was just a sight to behold. It was like watching a beautiful sunset.
Second, the buffers which ENDO put into this pill made the onset of the effects so smooth that one did not have to endure the usual effects of shooting morphine. That would be the prickly sensation in the shoulder area and the tendency to puke immediately when the drug hit the brain.
Of course, it was so good that it's no longer made.
Quote from dannye, http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=457260
Numorphan is currrently available as a suppository or an injectable solution. However, a new controlled release version a la OxyContin is soon to come on the market, under the name (I believe) Numorphan CR. Oxymorphone does not have good bioavailability orally, so the amount of drug in the pills will have to be much greater (both because of the longer release period, and because of the bioavailability issue). Thus, it would seem the days of "blue morphine" are soon to return, with a vengeance.