Editing Opium (section)

=== ''Papaver somniferum'' ===
{{Main|Papaver somniferum}}
Opium poppies are popular and attractive garden plants, whose flowers vary greatly in color, size and form. A modest amount of domestic cultivation in private gardens is not usually subject to legal controls.{{clarify|date=December 2023}} In part, this tolerance reflects variation in addictive potency. A cultivar for opium production, ''Papaver somniferum L. elite'', contains 91.2 percent morphine, codeine, and thebaine in its latex alkaloids, whereas in the latex of the condiment cultivar "Marianne", these three alkaloids total only 14.0 percent. The remaining alkaloids in the latter cultivar are primarily [[narcotoline]] and [[noscapine]].<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Frick S, Kramell R, Schmidt J, Fist AJ, Kutchan TM |title=Comparative qualitative and quantitative determination of alkaloids in narcotic and condiment Papaver somniferum cultivars|journal=Journal of Natural Products|date=May 2005|volume=68|issue=5|pages=666–73|pmid=15921406|doi=10.1021/np0496643}}</ref>

Seed capsules can be dried and used for decorations, but they also contain morphine, codeine, and other alkaloids. These pods can be boiled in water to produce a bitter [[Poppy tea|tea]] that induces a long-lasting intoxication. If allowed to mature, poppy pods ([[poppy straw]]) can be crushed and used to produce lower quantities of [[morphinans]]. In poppies subjected to mutagenesis and selection on a mass scale, researchers have been able to use poppy straw to obtain large quantities of [[oripavine]], a precursor to [[opioids]] and antagonists such as [[naltrexone]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.patentlens.com/patentlens/patsearch.cgi?patnum=US+6723894|archive-date=September 5, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120905182450/http://www.patentlens.com/patentlens/patsearch.cgi?patnum=US+6723894%23show|url-status=dead|title=Production of thebaine and oripavine|date=April 20, 2004|access-date=May 10, 2007}}</ref> Although millennia older, the production of poppy head decoctions can be seen as a quick-and-dirty variant of the Kábáy poppy straw process, which since its publication in 1930 has become the major method of obtaining licit opium alkaloids worldwide, as discussed in [[Morphine]].

[[Poppy seed]]s are a common and flavorsome topping for breads and cakes. One gram of poppy seeds contains up to 33 micrograms of morphine and 14 micrograms of codeine, and the [[Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration]] in the [[United States]] formerly mandated that all drug screening laboratories use a standard cutoff of 300 nanograms per milliliter in urine samples. A single poppy seed roll (0.76&nbsp;grams of seeds) usually did not produce a positive [[drug test]], but a positive result was observed from eating two rolls. A slice of poppy seed cake containing nearly five grams of seeds per slice produced positive results for 24 hours. Such results are viewed as [[false positive]] indications of drug use and were the basis of [[Poppy seed defence|a legal defense]].<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Meadway C, George S, Braithwaite R |date=August 31, 1998|title=Opiate concentrations following the ingestion of poppy seed products—evidence for 'the poppy seed defence'|journal=Forensic Science International|volume=96|issue=1|pages=29–38|pmid=9800363|doi=10.1016/S0379-0738(98)00107-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1097/00007691-200608000-00011 | last1 = Trafkowski | first1 = J | last2 = Madea | first2 = B | last3 = Musshoff | first3 = F |date=Aug 2006 | title = The significance of putative urinary markers of illicit heroin use after consumption of poppy seed products | journal=Therapeutic Drug Monitoring | volume = 28 | issue = 4| pages = 552–8 | pmid = 16885724 | s2cid = 22585610 }}</ref> On November 30, 1998, the standard cutoff was increased to 2000 nanograms (two micrograms) per milliliter.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Experience with a Urine Opiate Screening and Confirmation Cutoff of 2000 mg/ml|author1=Albert D. Fraser |author2=David Worth |date=October 1999|journal=Journal of Analytical Toxicology|volume=23|pages=549–551|pmid=10517566|issue=6|doi=10.1093/jat/23.6.549|doi-access=free}}</ref> Confirmation by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry will distinguish amongst opium and variants including poppy seeds, heroin, and morphine and codeine pharmaceuticals by measuring the morphine:codeine ratio and looking for the presence of noscapine and acetylcodeine, the latter of which is only found in illicitly produced heroin, and heroin metabolites such as 6-monoacetylmorphine.<ref>Gahlinger 2001</ref>