There is little doubt that the use of opiates dates to early human history. There are references to opium in the Ebers Papyrus, and the ancient Sumerians recognized its euphoriant properties when they called the opium poppy the “plant of joy.” Despite millenia of compulsive use and abuse, the opiates are still unrivaled as analgesics, and derivatives of opium continue to be indispensable in modern therapeutics.