opium poppy

Opium Poppy
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Ranunculales
Family:	Papaveraceae
Genus:	Papaver
Species:	P. somniferum
Binomial name
Papaver somniferum L.

The Opium Poppy, Papaver somniferum, is the type of poppy from which opium and many refined opiates, including morphine, thebaine, codeine, papaverine, and noscapine, are extracted. The binomial name means, loosely, the "sleep-bringing poppy", referring to its narcotic properties. The seeds are important food items, and contain healthy oils used worldwide in the culinary arts. The plant itself is valuable for ornamental purposes, and has been known as the "common garden poppy". It is widely grown in ornamental gardens throughout Europe, North America, South America, and Asia.

Varieties

Papaver somniferum is a species of plant with many sub-groups or varieties. Colors of the flower vary widely, as do other physical characteristics such as number and shape of petals, number of pods, production of morphine, etc.

Papaver somniferum Paeoniflorum Group (sometimes called Papaver paeoniflorum) is a sub-type of opium poppy whose flowers are highly double, and are grown in many colors. Papaver somniferum Laciniatum Group (sometimes called Papaver laciniatum) is a sub-type of opium poppy whose flowers are highly double and deeply lobed, to the point of looking like a ruffly pompon.

A few of the varieties, notably the Norman and Przemko varieties, have low morphine content (less than one percent), but have much higher concentrations of other alkaloids. Most varieties, however, including those most popular for ornamental use or seed production, have a higher morphine content, with the average content being 10%.^[1][2]

Legality

Opium poppy cultivation in the United Kingdom does not need a license, however, a license is required for those wishing to extract opium for medicinal products.^[3]

In the United States, opium is listed as a Schedule II controlled substance by the Drug Enforcement Administration. In addition, "Opium poppy and poppy straw" are also prohibited.^[4] However, this is not typically enforced for poppies grown or sold for ornamental or food purposes.^[1] There is a common misconception that there is a clear distinction between poppies useful for opium extraction and ornamental or food poppies. It is not difficult to manufacture opium tea with a high morphine content from poppies readily available at flower shops.^[5][6]

The seeds themselves contain very low levels of opiates.^[1] However, the television show MythBusters demonstrated that one could test positive for narcotics after consuming four poppy seed bagels. The show Brainiac: Science Abuse had subjects who tested positive with only two poppy seed bagels. As a result, the U.S. standard for urinalysis raised the threshold for a positive result by a considerable amount.^{[citation needed]} However, many labs have not implemented the increased detection threshold and many believe that the new threshold is still too low.

In the UAE, where the drug law is especially stern, at least one man was reported to have been imprisoned for possessing poppy seeds obtained from a bread roll.^[7]

Poppies as medicine

Commercial poppy cultivation in France

Capsule of Papaver somniferum showing latex (opium) exuding from incision

Polish makowiec cake. The dark filling is made mainly from poppy seeds.

Tasmania, Turkey and India are the major producers of poppy for medicinal purposes and poppy-based drugs, such as morphine or codeine.^[8] The USA has a policy of sourcing 80% of its narcotic raw materials from the traditional producers, India and Turkey.^[9]

A recent initiative to extend opium production for medicinal purposes called Poppy for Medicine was launched by The Senlis Council which proposes that Afghanistan could produce medicinal opium under a scheme similar to that operating in Turkey and India.^[10] The Council proposes licensing poppy production in Afghanistan, within an integrated control system supported by the Afghan government and its international allies, to promote economic growth in the country, create vital drugs and combat poverty and the diversion of illegal opium to drug traffickers and terrorist elements. Interestingly, Senlis is on record advocating reintroduction of poppy into areas of Afghanistan, specifically Kunduz, which has been poppy free for some time.

The Senlis proposal is based in part on the assertion that there is an acute global shortage of opium poppy-based medicines some of which (morphine) are on the World Health Organisation's list of essential drugs as they are the most effective way of relieving severe pain. This assertion is contradicted by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), the "independent and quasi-judicial control organ monitoring the implementation of the United Nations drug control conventions". INCB reports that the supply of opiates is greatly in excess of demand.^[11]

The British government has given the go-ahead to the pharmaceutical company Macfarlan Smith (a Johnson Matthey company) to cultivate opium poppies in England for medicinal reasons. This move is well-received by British farmers, with a major opium poppy field based in Didcot, England.^[12]

Use as food

See also poppy seed dishes and poppy milk

The seeds of the poppy are widely used in and on many food items such as bagels, bialys, muffins and cakes. The seeds can be pressed to form poppyseed oil, which can be used in cooking, or as a carrier for oil-based paints. The primary flavor compound is 2-pentylfuran.^[13]

The seeds themselves contain very low levels of opiates^[1].

Ornamental cultivation

A red opium poppy flower used for ornamental purposes

Many seed companies and nurseries grow and sell live plants and seeds in many highly beautiful variations. They are also sold dried for dried flower arrangements. This is technically illegal in the United States, but this is not generally enforced unless the plants are being sold for drug production.^[1]

Many countries grow the plants; some of which rely heavily on the commercial production of the drug as a major source of income. As an additional source of profit, the same seeds are sold in the culinary trade shortly thereafter, making cultivation of the plant a significant source of income. This international trade in seeds of Papaver somniferum was addressed by a UN resolution "to fight the international trade in illicit opium poppy seeds" on July 28, 1998.

History

Use of the opium poppy predates written history. Images of opium poppies have been found in ancient Sumerian artifacts (ca. 4000 BC). The opium poppy was also known to the ancient Greeks, from whom it gained its modern name of opium. Remains have been discovered at sites such as Kalapodi and Kastanas.^{[citation needed]}

Opium was used for treating asthma, stomach illnesses, and bad eye sight. The Opium Wars between China and the British Empire took place in the late 1830s when the Chinese attempted to stop the sale of opium by Britain, in China.

Many modern writers, particularly in the nineteenth century, have written on the opium poppy and its effects, notably L. Frank Baum in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Thomas de Quincey in Confessions of an English Opium Eater

The French Romantic composer Hector Berlioz used an opium hallucination for the program of his Symphonie Fantastique. In this work, a young artist overdoses on opium and experiences a series of visions of his unrequited love.

Sources and notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Papaver somniferum

Inline citations

General references

• The Heroin Harvest
• Comprehensive profile for Papaver somniferum from MaltaWildPlants.com
• Opium FAQ v1.0 from Opioids.com
• Opium Poppy Cultivation and Heroin Processing in Southeast Asia from the School of Pacific and Asian Studies
• "Downward Spiral - Banning Opium in Afghanistan and Burma", Transnational Institute TNI, Debate Paper, June 2005
• "Withdrawal Symptoms in the Golden Triangle - A Drugs Market in Disarray" TNI Paper by Tom Kramer et al.
• Chouvy P.A., 2009, "Opium. Uncovering the Politics of the Poppy", London, I.B. Tauris (Cambridge, Harvard University Press: 2010)

Photos

• The Papaver somniferum Photo Gallery
• Photos of opium poppy fields in France on www.geopium.org
• Photos of opium poppies (in bloom, lanced, dried, with seeds) on www.geopium.org
• Opium Poppy fields of North Tasmania