What is the difference between opiates and opoids?

“Like many of you, I use the words opioids and opiates interchangeably.I incorrectly thought one was singular and the other plural. It pays to look up definitions before using a word! Merriam Webster defines opiate as “a drug containing or derived from opium and tending to induce sleep and alleviate pain. read more

Opiates are alkaloids derived from the opium poppy. Opium is a strong pain relieving medication, and a number of drugs are also made from this source. Opioids are synthetic or partly-synthetic drugs that are manufactured to work in a similar way to opiates. read more

Opioid vs Opiate Most people have now moved away from differentiating between opiate and opioid and use the term opioid for both natural or synthetic (or semi-synthetic) substances that act at one of the three main opioid receptor systems (mu, kappa, delta). read more

Opium is an opiate, and is the source from which other semi-synthetic opiates are derived, such as morphine and heroin. Opiates are a class of drugs that people can take. These are drugs that interact with the *opioid* receptors in the brain, to trigger an artificial experience of opioids. read more