Emily Moore Rnd - The Opium Poppies Gardner: A Practical Guide to Growing Poppies and Making Opium

Copyright 2020 by Emily Moore RND

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Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

Oum r nnul wldflwr tht m n a wd range f colors, from white to d url (with rlt nd pink t along th w). Sv pods nd ttr d n rng.

N other ubtn has bn found to b as fftv as t fr th mngmnt of extreme n. In ddtn t t analgesic ult, it a vr effective ugh urnt, anti-diarrhea mdtn, and l-ndur.

Oum frm lnt ntn vrl nturl lkld nludng mrhn nd dn. All opiates share th m b mlulr trutur, with jut a slight change n th nd mlul t dffrntt hrn frm morphine, dn, xdn, nd other vrt. In this book you will enough information you need on this plant, its benefits and the danger of its misuse.

CHAPTER ONE

OPIUM POPPIES (Pvr somniferum)

Oum r popular nd ttrtv garden lnt, whose flowers vary greatly n color, size nd frm. A mdt munt f dmt ultvtn in rvt gardens is nt usually ubjt t legal ntrl. In rt, th tlrn rflt vrtn n addictive tn. A ultvr fr um production, Pvr somniferum L. lt, ntn 91.2 rnt mrhn, dn, nd thebaine n t latex alkaloids, whr in the latex f th ndmnt ultvr "Marianne", these thr lkld total nl 14.0 rnt. The rmnng lkld in the lttr cultivar are rmrl nrtln nd nn.

Seed ul can b dried nd ud for decorations, but they also contain mrhn, dn, nd thr lkld. Th d n b bld n wtr t rdu a bttr t tht induces a long-lasting intoxication (S P t). If allowed t mtur, d ( straw) n b ruhd nd ud to rdu lwr untt f mrhnn. In ubjtd t mutgn nd ltn n a m scale, researchers hv bn able t u trw to obtain large quantities f rvn, a rurr to opioids nd ntgnt uh naltrexone. Althugh millennia ldr, the rdutn f poppy hd decoctions n b seen as a uk-nd-drt vrnt f the Kb trw r, whh since t ubltn n 1930 has bm th major mthd of obtaining lt um lkld wrldwd, dud in Mrhn.

Poppy d are a mmn nd flavorsome tng fr brd and k. On gram of poppy d ntn up to 33 mrgrm f mrhn nd 14 mrgrm f dn, nd the Subtn Abu and Mntl Hlth Services Admntrtn n the Untd States frmrl mandated tht ll drug screening lbrtr u a standard cutoff of 300 nngrm per mllltr n urn ml. A ngl poppy seed rll (0.76 grm f d) uull dd nt rdu a tv drug tt, but a tv rult w brvd frm tng tw rll. A l of seed k ntnng nrl five grm f d r l produced tv results fr 24 hur. Suh results are viewed as fl positive indications of drug use and were th b f a legal dfn.

On November 30, 1998, th standard utff was increased t 2000 nanograms (tw micrograms) r milliliter. Confirmation b g hrmtgrh-m trmtr wll dtnguh mngt um and vrnt including poppy d, heroin, nd morphine and dn hrmutl b measuring th morphine: codeine rt and lkng fr the rn f noscapine nd acetylcodeine, the lttr f which nl found n lltl rdud heroin, nd hrn mtblt uh as 6-mntlmrhn.

Hrvtng and rng

Hrvtng opium

Whn grwn for um rdutn, the skin of th rnng d of th is scored b a sharp bld t a time carefully hn tht rn, wind, nd dw nnt l th exudation f white, mlk latex, uull n th ftrnn. Incisions are md while th d are tll rw, wth n mr thn a lght llw tnt, and mut be hllw t avoid penetrating hllw inner hmbr or lul while uttng into the ltfru vessels. In th Indn Subntnnt, Afghanistan, Cntrl A nd Iran, th l tool ud to mk th nn called a nushtar or "nhtr" (frm Persian, meaning a lnt) nd rr three r fur blades thr mllmtr rt, whh r scored uwrd along th d. Inn r made three r fur tm t intervals of tw to thr d, and h time the " tr", whh dr to a tk brwn resin, r collected the following mrnng. One acre hrvtd n th w n rdu thr to five klgrm f rw opium. In th Svt Unn, d wr tll scored horizontally, and um w collected thr times, r else one or two collections were fllwd by isolation f t frm th ripe ul. Ol , an ltrntv trn f P. mnfrum, wr also ud fr rdutn f t frm their capsules and tm. A trdtnl Chn mthd of hrvtng um ltx nvlvd uttng ff th hd and piercing them wth a r ndl thn collecting th drd opium 24 t 48 hur ltr.

Rw um may b ld t a mrhnt or brkr on th black mrkt, but it uull d nt travel fr frm th fld bfr t is rfnd nt mrhn base, bu pungent, jll-lk rw um bulkier nd harder t smuggle. Crude lbrtr n the fld r bl of refining um into morphine base by a ml d-b extraction. A tk, brwn t, morphine base rd nt brk nd un-drd, nd can either be smoked, prepared nt thr forms or rd into heroin.

Othr mthd of preparation (besides smoking), include processing nt rgulr um tincture (tinctura opii), ludnum, rgr (tntur mhrt), herbal wine (.g., vinum ), um powder (pulvis ), um ru (sirupus ) nd opium xtrt (xtrtum opii). Vnum made by combining ugr, white wn, cinnamon, nd lv. Opium syrup md b combining 97.5 rt ugr ru with 2.5 rt um extract. Oum extract (xtrtum ) fnll can b md b mrtng raw um wth water. T mk opium extract, 20 rt water are mbnd with 1 rt raw um whh h bn boiled for 5 mnut (the lttr t mxng).

Hrn wdl rfrrd bu f nrd tn. One tud in postaddicts fund hrn t be rxmtl 2.2 tm mr tnt thn mrhn by weight wth a mlr durtn; at th rltv quantities, th uld dtnguh the drug ubjtvl but hd no rfrn. Heroin w l found t b tw as tnt morphine n urgl anesthesia. Mrhn is nvrtd nt hrn b a simple hml reaction with t nhdrd, fllwd b purification. Ell n Mexican production, um m be converted directly to "blk tar hrn" in a mlfd rdur. Th form rdmnt n th U.S. wt f the Mississippi. Rltv t thr preparations f heroin, t h bn associated with a drmtll decreased rt of HIV trnmn mng intravenous drug users (4 rnt in Los Angl vs. 40 percent n Nw York) du t thnl rurmnt f njtn, lthugh t also associated wth grtr rk of vnu lr nd nrtzng fasciitis.

Illgl Production

Afghntn, Hlmnd rvn. A Marine grt ll hldrn wrkng n the fld f um nr the b.

Afghntn currently th primary producer f th drug. After rgulrl producing 70 rnt f th wrld' um, Afghntn drd rdutn to 74 tons per r undr a ban by th Tlbn n 2000, a mv whh ut production by 94 rnt. A year ltr, ftr Amrn nd Brth troops nvdd Afghanistan, removed th Taliban and ntlld the ntrm government, th land under cultivation lt back to 285 qur ml (740 km2), wth Afghntn ulntng Burm t bm the world's lrgt um rdur once mr. Oum production in tht untr h nrd rapidly since, reaching n ll-tm hgh in 2006. According to DEA ttt, Afghntn' rdutn f oven-dried um increased t 1,278 tons in 2002, more thn dubld b 2003, and nrl doubled gn durng 2004. In late 2004, th U.S. government estimated that 206,000 htr wr undr poppy cultivation, 4.5 rnt f the untr' total rlnd, nd rdud 4,200 mtr tn f um, 76 rnt f th world's ul, ldng 60 rnt of Afghntn' gross dmt product. In 2006, th UN Office n Drug nd Crime tmtd rdutn to have risen 59 rnt to 165,000 htr (407,000 acres) n ultvtn, ldng 6,100 tn f opium, 82 rnt f th wrld' ul. Th vlu f the rultng hrn was tmtd t US$3.5 billion, f whh Afghn frmr wr estimated t hv rvd US$700 mlln in rvnu. Fr frmr, th r n b u t tn tm more profitable thn wheat. Th r f opium around US$138 r kl. Opium rdutn has ld to rng tnn in Afghn villages. Thugh drt nflt has t t ur, th nn of the new l f young rich mn involved n the um trade are t dd with th f th trdtnl vllg ldr.

Legal rdutn

Lgl um rdutn llwd under th Untd Nations Sngl Cnvntn n Nrt Drugs nd thr international drug treaties, ubjt to trt urvn by th lw enforcement agencies f individual untr. Th leading legal rdutn method th Grgr process, whrb th ntr poppy, xludng rt nd lv, mhd nd twd n dlut d solutions. Th lkld are thn rvrd v d-b extraction and urfd. Th process was dvld n th UK durng Wrld Wr II, whn wrtm hrtg f many ntl drugs nurgd nnvtn n pharmaceutical rng.

Lgl opium rdutn n Ind is much mr trdtnl. A f 2008, um w lltd b farmers wh wr licensed to grw 0.1 htr (0.25 r) f opium poppies, wh to maintain their ln ndd t ll 56 klgrm of undultrtd rw um paste. The price of um t fxd b th gvrnmnt rdng to th ult and untt tndrd. Th vrg around 1500 ru (US$29) r klgrm. Some additional money made b drying th poppy hd nd lltng poppy seeds, nd a small frtn of opium bnd th qut may b consumed lll or diverted t the blk market. The um t is drd nd rd into gvrnmnt um nd lkld ftr bfr it packed nt cases of 60 kilograms for export. Purftn f chemical nttunt done in Ind fr domestic rdutn, but tll dn abroad by foreign mrtr.