Laudanum would represent an equivalent daily dose of between 180 mg and 480 mg of morphine. Today, morphine and codeine are available in various forms as single formulation products, which are easier to dose and are much cheaper than opium tincture. Thus, opium is rarely prescribed to treat pain in contemporary medicine. Further, opium tincture contains 17-to-19% alcohol, by volume, which may complicate its use as an analgesic in patients for whom alcohol is contraindicated. Extreme caution is advised when administering doses of Tincture of Opium. Doses should be carefully measured using an oral syringe or calibrated dropper. Apothecary measurements should
Laudanum other such drugs continued to be legally available without prescription as long as they were labeled. It is estimated that sale of patent medicines containing opiates decreased by 33% after labeling was mandated. In 1906 in Britain and in 1908 in Canada "laws requiring disclosure of ingredients and limitation of narcotic content were instituted". The Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914 restricted the manufacture and distribution of opiates, including laudanum, and coca derivatives in the US. This was followed by France's "" in 1916, and Britain's Dangerous Drugs Act in 1920. Laudanum was supplied to druggists and physicians in regular