Long-term stability of Morphine

[MetallicCognition]

I have 900mg of morphine in a safe place. I "acquired" it when an elderly relative passed, who had been on a high prescribed dose due to chronic pain. I was told to dispose of the morphine at a pharmacy, but I only gave them half. This was now four years ago and I still have the morphine.

My question is: does it go bad? Will it still work after 4 years? I have 100ml=200mg of liquid in a factory-sealed bottle ("oramorph"), and the rest (700mg) in pills ("zomorph"). They have been kept in a room temperature, dark place wrapped in cloth and a bag in addition to the original pill packaging. The bottle does say "exp XX 2022" and the pills are labelled "2019" - I think this is the manufacture date, as it doesn't say "expires" or anything, just a year printed on the pill packets. And they were in use by my relative in 2021.

I could test some but tbh I kind of want to take as much as possible in one go one day. I think 900mg is probably enough, but I don't want to reduce the dose by wasting some in a test. I plan to administer it rectally since the absorption is limited orally, and also I'll just throw it up if I eat it all in one go.

 

[spero_meliora]

it obviously highly depends on how it was stored but it sounds like you've tried to keep it in a stable, cool temperature and away from light. as you might have guessed, the pills will be more stable.

morphine pills will usually have a shelf life of about 2-5 years when stored properly with gradual degradation. for the liquid, it's often 1-2 years even when sealed, and is more sensitive.

you may also want to refer to the opioid mega thread here:

Opioid Megathread & Overview

Preamble I wanted to write something similar to Stan's guide to SN but I hesitate to call this a guide because I can't in good conscience make a guide for something so unreliable in terms of access, lethality, and risk of permanent injury. I.e., traumatic brain injury from hypoxia. SN is a far...

sanctioned-suicide.net

regardless, what really matters is if these pills are morphine-only? usually morphine pills don't have anything else mixed in, but it's important to check. but you certainly have a significant amount, especially if you have no opiate tolerance.

hope this helps, and I wish you the best in whatever you decide.