Opium Poppy
BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION
Family :
Papaveraceae
Genus :
Papaver
Species :
somniferum
COMMON NAMES
Opium Poppy; Plant of Joy; Mawseed
EFFECTS CLASSIFICATION
Sedative; Euphoriant
DESCRIPTION
Papaver somniferum is a annual that with brilliant white or red flowers growing on a central bulbous pod. When scratched, the pod produces a milkly latex called opium. This latex contains a variety of opiates including codeine and morphine. It has a long history of use in Asia and Europe.
GENERAL INFORMATION #
HISTORY #
ASK EROWID ANSWERS #
ARTICLES & WRITINGS #
From Flowers to Heroin, by the CIA
MEDIA COVERAGE #
Poppy seed bagel baker charged for narcotics offense - Tai Pei, Mar 2001
CULTIVATION #
Opium Poppy Cultivation, by John W. Allen
PREPARATION & RECIPES #
Making Poppy Tea, by Zort
Opium Poppy Tea: A Simple Recipe, by Dr. Opium
Poppy Biscuits / Pellets, by Sgort
NON-ENGLISH RESOURCES #
EXPERIENCES #
Chasing the Dragon, by Mr. Frog
Seeds Do Work, by The Mad Hungarian
The Best Legal High, by Pleasantly Surprised
Instead of OTC Painkillers, For Back Pain, by Seeformiles
Pods, Tea or No Tea, by I C
BOOKS #
Opium: The Potent Poppy, by Michael Robson
On the Trail of the Ancient Opium Poppy, by M. D. Merlin
Poppies: The Poppy Family in the Wild and Cultivation, by C. Grey-Wilson
Opium Poppy : Botany, Chemistry, and Pharmacology, by L.D. Kapoor (Ed.)
Opium Poppy Garden, by William Griffith
OFF-SITE RESOURCES
PRIMARY RESOURCES #
Purdue University - Papaver somniferum (Excellent!)
MEDIA COVERAGE #
Australia: Poppy-Eating Wallabies destroy crops - Jun 2009, AP
A Homebrewed High? Poppy Tea Hits the Web, ABCNews.go.com, Jan 16 2008
Could Afghan Poppies Be Painkillers for the Poor? - New York Times, Oct 14 2007
Extraordinary move to legalise poppy crops - Independent UK, Apr 2007
Mutant poppy makes safer drugs - Guardian UK, Sep 2004
Opium Made Easy - One gardener's encounter with the war on drugs - Harper's, 1997
ARTICLES #
Traditional Medicinal Uses of Afeem [P. somniferum] in Central India, Apr 17, 2008, American Chronicle
World Bank Report on Opium / Poppy Production in Afghanistan, Nov 28 2006, worldbank.org
Transforming Opium Poppies Into Heroin, 1998, PBS