WHats a "Narcotic"? Narcotic is a term that originally means sleep or stupor inducing. the DEA calls all sorts of drugs by the term "Narcotic" and by its definition benedryl could certainly be a narcotic. I think you either mean tramadol is not an opioid, which is wrong, or you meant tramadol is not derived from the morphine-like chemical structure that semisynthetics are, and in that case youd be right. methadone is also an opioid that is chemically unrelated to the opiates and their semisynthetics. it is very powerful opioid though.