Smoking alkaloids is fairly commonplace these days, but it it something that confuses me. Apparently it is standard practice to smoke the salts of certain compounds, when in others, only the base is used. Though vaporising the base make sense to me, doing so to the salt seems like it would produce a significant amount of decomposition. The main reason I ask this is that I am wondering if distillation of alkaloids (at atmospheric pressure) would ever be a feasible method of purification/extraction.

Why yes, yes it is.

Why yes, yes it is.

What about in the case of larger alkaloids. Say...opiates? For instance, I was under the impression that morphine base degrades horribly (but not totally, IE opium) upon heating to vapor. Or, for that matter, H base, which is why you don't hear about many people chasing the dragon. Oh, actually while I'm asking, would anyone happen to know the boiling points of morphine (or related compounds)?

Reduced pressure.

Oh, actually while I'm asking, would anyone happen to know the boiling points of morphine (or related compounds)?

Is Google broken or something?

it's 254oC / 489oF

Is Google broken or something?

it's 254oC / 489oF

Oo... In that case it was just a google away. My bad.

Although the MSDS I found didn't specify whether it was at standard pressure (or is that assumed on MSDS?). My main conflict here is that the smoking of opium is common practice, but at the same time, people talk about morphine degrading at these temperatures. Further googling did confirm earlier search results regarding decomp at these, but all reports were anecdotal.

I forget the temp but the HCl salt loses its crystal water something like a hundred degrees before decomp.

I going to be having a dream in a few nights (I am a lucid dreamer) about doing such an extraction, and I still don't know what to expect. I'll post results. I just didn't want to lose my dream alkaloids to decomp, but in dreams they are always replaceable.