Opioids Are P. Somniferum Leaves Active? When Using Stems Entire or Partial?

[muie]

I have been eating poppy pods since they were sold on Ebay, although I stumbled upon the poppy scene around 2008 so right towards the very end of that magical era. I've also grown them since every chance I've had! Had I been aware of this natural delight earlier, I wouldn't have had to go onto the methadone program at such an early age and at such a high dose. Morphine is my favorite opiate/opioid, so this fit into my ideal vision of a perfect opiate, even though the first couple days were actually quite terrible, filled with side effects as my body built a tolerance to the many alkaloids, particularly thebaine which caused me massive headaches and nausea.

The poppy plant, in particular p. somniferum has become a hobby of mine and I've read plenty of material on everything poppy related from its history to the geo-political side of it, down to the cultivation and consumption of it.

From personal experience I have found the stems to be extremely useful, so much that I would be glad buying the stems alone! The difference between pods vs stems is that with stems one will need a bigger amount (gram per gram) in comparison to pods, but this is to be expected. As far as effects go I have found the stems to produce a slightly more stimulating effect but still very pleasant and just as long in duration.

I had no idea that leaves also contained alkaloids, as some people claim they do! Which brings me to my question.

1. Do the leaves of the poppy plant contain any alkaloids?

2. If so, what is the concentration of the alkaloids found in leaves compared to that found in stems?
(example: the highest concentration of alkaloids is found in the pods but are leaves higher in alkaloids than stems?)

3. When it comes to stems, most people cut the pods off with a little bit of stem attached! If the stem is active (and it is), shouldn't you cut the stems off the plant from as low as possible, right above the root!?

When I harvest my dried pods I never cut more than a small length of stem, throwing away about 85%-90% of the stem along with the leaves of the plant!

I am now wondering if I was wasting a lot of material, though its never too late to be educated so that this doesn't happen again in the future! I am now beginning to think the reason for the small stems on the pods were for 'decorative purposes' and also for easier transportation. I would be very appreciative to learn what the rest of bluelight thinks!

 

[Prescottdave]

Usually the top six inches or so of stem is considered to be more active compared to the bottom half of the stem. I found this to be the case. It is actually really common for florists and back in the day ebay sellers to include the top 4-6 inches of stem on each pod.

Now they are sold by weight compared to pod count and stems are not included. They are also a ripoff so ORT has taken the place for many poppy enthusiasts like yourself. I bet you could find an alkaloid profile specifically for the morphine content for all parts of the plant on the net.

I always thought the leaves contained less actives and more of the other alkaloids that can cause unpleasant side effects. I avoid the leaves partly because they have more dirt and bugs on them. Some herbalists I know have claimed that mild tinctures are created from the poppy leaves though this could be also referring to non P Som varieties.

 

[SKR]

Back when I was full on Ethnobotanical It was consensus amongst 'the group' that it best to process the whole plant minus the roots usually. I'm pretty sure big pharma are doing this but they are obviously able to clean up and isolate what they wished but are also not in the business of waste.

Experiment with it. I don't recall many if any having anything negative to say about their end results (Final product) when processing leaves and all versus just the Pod and Stem. You should muck around with it for sure.