Natural raw opium contains a plethora of alkaloids (compounds containing nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen) and many of them are active or psychoactive. Two main chemical classifications are the phenanthrenes (opiates) and the isoquinolines (papaverine, noscapine). The opiates are morphine, which is [usually] the primary constituent, as well as codeine and thebaine.
When you buy opium from people on the street, like with other drugs, you never really know what you are getting. Raw opium is usually not smuggled into the country because it is much more economical to extract the morphine and convert it to heroin, both of which are easier to import.
Damn I was hoping it was the same buzz as a roxy. If that was the case though I guess everyone would be growing poppies. I wish I knew how to make oxycodone or hell even hydro. Im just a country dude shit we can make our own smoke, and drink, I'm going to learn to make pills too damn it. haha. It's just a matter of singling a certain compound out of the latex then refining right? I don't know, I have a lot of learning to do.
Oxycodone and hydrocodone are opioids; they are semi-synthetic. Typically they are derived from thebaine or from codeine. The pharmaceutical industry grows poppies that produce more of these alkaloids. Hydrocodone is easier to produce from codeine, if you're comfortable with catalytic hydrogenation and Oppenauer oxidation. The first challenge would be isolating the codeine from the other alkaloids, and it wouldn't be the most prominent one. It is much easier to refine morphine from raw opium, and if you have the anhydrous acetic acid turn it into heroin.