Poppy plants bloom with the beautiful red flowers, delight our eyes and produce seeds to top bakery food... That's innocent enough. At the same time, morphine can be extracted from the seedpods of these plants. Heroin is derived from this substance.

Instead, the experiment produced an acetylated form of morphine one and a half to two times more potent than morphine itself. The head of Bayer's research department reputedly coined the drug's new name, "heroin," which means "heroic, strong". Bayer scientists were not the first to make heroin, but their scientists discovered ways to make it, and Bayer led commercialization of heroin.

In the beginning, heroin was thought to be a non-addictive and safe substitution of morphine. It was used as a cough suppressant and analgesic in treating such serious diseases as pneumonia and tuberculosis, as well as respiratory infections and some mental disorders. Soon after the true nature of the drug was revealed, as people continued taking heroin even after recovery. Nowadays more than 5 thousand people in the USA die from heroin every year.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org