Opium (Papaver Somniferum)

Opium is the crudest form and also the least potent of the Opiates. Opium is obtained by slightly incising the seed capsules of the poppy after the plant's flower petals have fallen. It is the milky latex fluid contained in the unripened seed pod of the Opium Poppy. As the fluid is exposed to air, it hardens and turns black in colour. Opium is grown mainly in Myanmar (formerly Burma ) and Afghanistan

Opium poppies yield valuable Alkaloids used as medicines. Medicines produced from Opium Poppies include Morphine and Codeine. Its cultivation and production is strictly controlled because Opium Poppies are also used to make illegal and highly addictive drugs, such as Heroin. Opium may be smoked, injected or eaten, but is rarely found within the UK .

Opium is highly addictive. Tolerance (the need for higher and higher doses to maintain the same effect) and physical and psychological dependence develop quickly. Withdrawal from Opium causes nausea, tearing, yawning, chills, and sweating.

As long ago as 100 AD, Opium had been used as a medicine, taken with a beverage or swallowed as a solid. Only toward the middle of the 17th century, when Opium smoking was introduced into China , did any serious addiction problems arise. In the 18th century Opium addiction was so serious there that the Chinese made many attempts to prohibit Opium cultivation and opium trade with Western countries. At the same time opium made its way to Europe and North America , where addiction grew out of its prevalent use as a painkiller.

 

 

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