opium
Sign in to saveOpium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy Papaver somniferum. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which is processed chemically to produce heroin and other synthetic opioids for medicinal use and for the illegal drug trade. Opium's main psychoactive alkaloids, primarily morphine, act on μ-opioid receptors, causing analgesia, with long-term use leading to tolerance and dependence. The latex also contains the closely related opiates codeine and thebaine, and non-analg
AI overview
Opium is a dried substance extracted from opium poppy seed capsules that contains morphine and other alkaloids, which are used to produce both legitimate pain-relieving medications and illegal drugs. It matters because morphine and related compounds are powerful pain relievers but also carry significant risks of tolerance and dependence with long-term use.
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Key facts
- Botanical product.image
- Opium pod cut to demonstrate fluid extraction1.jpg
- Botanical product.caption
- Opium poppy seed pod exuding latex from a cut
- Botanical product.name
- Opium
- Botanical product.plant
- Papaver somniferum
- Botanical product.part
- Latex capsule seeds
- Botanical product.origin
- Uncertain, possibly Anatolia, or Spain, southern France and northwestern Africa
- Botanical product.consumers
- Worldwide (#1: Iran)
- Botanical product.legal_AU
- S8
- Botanical product.legal_BR
- A1
- Botanical product.legal_CA
- Schedule I
- Botanical product.legal_DE
- Anlage III
- Botanical product.legal_NZ
Article
29 sectionsContents
- History
- Ancient use (pre-500 CE)
- Islamic societies (500–1500 CE)
- Reintroduction to Western medicine
- Recreational use in Europe, the Middle East and the US (11th to 19th centuries)
- England
- China
- Recreational use in China
- Prohibitions in China
- Chinese diaspora in the West
- Prohibition and conflict in China
- Prohibition outside China
- Indochina tax
- Regulation in Britain and the United States
- 20th-century use
- Obsolescence
- Modern production and use
- ''Papaver somniferum''
- Harvesting and processing
- Illegal production
- Legal production
- Cultivation in the UK
- Consumption
- Chemical and physiological properties
- Slang terms
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy Papaver somniferum. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which is processed chemically to produce heroin and other synthetic opioids for medicinal use and for the illegal drug trade. Opium's main psychoactive alkaloids, primarily morphine, act on μ-opioid receptors, causing analgesia, with long-term use leading to tolerance and dependence. The latex also contains the closely related opiates codeine and thebaine, and non-analgesic alkaloids such as papaverine and noscapine. The traditional, labor-intensive method of obtaining the latex is to scratch ("score") the immature seed pods (fruits) by hand; the latex leaks out and dries to a sticky yellowish residue that is later scraped off and dehydrated.
The English word for opium is borrowed from Latin, which in turn comes from (ópion), a diminutive of ὀπός (opós, 'juice of a plant'). The word meconium (derived from the Greek for "opium-like", but now used to refer to newborn stools) historically referred to related, weaker preparations made from other parts of the opium poppy or different species of poppies. The Mediterranean region holds the earliest archaeological evidence of human use of opium poppies dating back to before 5000 BCE, with cultivation beginning around 3400 BCE in Mesopotamia. Opium was widely used for food, medicine, ritual, and as a painkiller throughout ancient civilizations including Greece, Egypt, and Islamic societies up to medieval times.