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Morphine is widely used as an analgesic, especially in cases of intense pain due to cancer. Its use, however, is still infrequent in certain countries, including Italy.Among the many factors leading to this situation is the bad reputation of this drug among certain health care professionals, and also among potential beneficiaries. This is due to largely unjustified beliefs, “morphine’s myths.”This study assessed knowledge regarding morphine, the spontaneous associations that it calls up, as the type and frequency of myths, as well as attitudes towards intake, prescription, and administration of morphine as an analgesic among a large sample of the general population, physicians and nurses of the Aosta valley (Italy).In the general population, the word “morphine” especially calls up the idea of addiction (39%), an idea also prevalent among professionals. The mythical effect most frequently attributed to morphine by the public is the induction of sedation (74%); physicians and nurses most frequently attributed to it the effects of sedation, addiction, and respiratory depression.If prescribed morphine, 30% of the public would not take it, or would reduce the dose; approximately 10% of professionals thought that the use of morphine to treat cancer pain should be “avoided or deferred for as long as possible.”Data from this study suggest that preconceived and mistaken beliefs regarding morphine are frequent, and can have consequences on the use of this medication in the treatment of cancer pain.