• 💊 OTHER DRUGS 💊 Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Notable Threads 1 Notable Threads 2
    Dangerous Combos Addiction Support
    Emergency Services Benzo Guide v.1
    Addiction Stories Scary Case Studies
    Biology, Pharmacology & Drugs 101
  • Select Your Topic Then Scroll Down
    Alcohol Bupe Benzos
    Cocaine Heroin Opioids
    RCs Stimulants Misc
    Harm Reduction All Topics Gabapentinoids
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums

Opioids Opium in Poppy Roots

mushi mushi 88

mushi mushi 88

Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 2, 2006
Messages
1,928
Location
Through the rabbit hole!
Hi all!

I'll make this as quick and short as possible.

A while ago, (a few years now actually), I was reading a thread somewhere that their is more opium contained in the roots of a poppy plant than in the seed pods? Can anyone confirm this is correct? I think it may had been on erowid that I was reading it..... :\

I have grown poppies many times before in the past and gotten some opium out of the pods by scrapping them, but to be honest... It's the biggest fuck around ever and hardly worth all the time and effort put into it unless you're growing a huge plantation.

Any feedback or links would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Mushi.
 
From what I have read there is relatively no alkaloids in the leaves/roots of the opium poppy. The only part that has any decent amount aside from the pod is the stalk of the flower, and even that part contains much less.
 
Most opium alkaloids are commercially isolated from poppy straw via solvent extractions these days. It's a messy process and not neccesarily something you want to be doing without a lab.

It's also worthwhile noting that there are other, less savoury alkaloids in the poppy plant that can concentrate in the roots. I dont know if they'd be harmless or if they'd make you very ill.
 
I've spent a great deal of time in poppy fields and the way it's done in all the small/medium/large operations is by scoring(with a tool with several small teeth) and after it's left to weep for a day then it's scraped off. Several passes over several days per pod. After which the entire plant, roots and all, is removed and stored for seed harvest. Then discarded. Labor intensive, messy, and low yield. I've never seen any other method performed.
 
Last edited:
I'd say it would probably be better to make tea with the whole unscored pods then trying to collect opium latex from them.
 
That's what pharma companies do - poppy straw is the top foot or so of the dry poppy plant plus capsule. It's crushed, boiled in acid, and then extracted.
 
I saw this on wiki and thought it was worth adding it here "Poppy straw usually consists of only the above ground parts of the plant, but the roots may be harvested as well" and i do believe there are some goodies in the roots too i know when i grew some cail poppies this year the extract i made with the whole plant was quite good- even my friends who thought it wouldent work said it gave them a weed like high. So the roots do have something in them , and cail poppies are a close cousin to there opioud containing brothers .
 
For papaver somniferum the goodies are in the pods and stems. That's where the enzymes for morphine are located. Some is in the leaves but not as much or as strong. I'd leave them on.

Papaver Bracteatum has a lot of alkaloids in the root. Sadly(or fortunately;)) it's thebaine.
OntarioGuy said:
I'd say it would probably be better to make tea with the whole unscored pods then trying to collect opium latex from them.
Click to expand...
You can do both. The pods still have alkaloids afterwards. With tea you can't experience the pleasure of smoking O, but you can make tea and opium.

It's rather tricky to get good yields but not impossible. There's certain ways to improve yields of opium. You have to cut at the right time and not too deep, otherwise it kills the opium production. Rather subtle things. Most aren't published, because the pros don't speak English or are often illiterate.

Might not be able to compete with weed in terms of $, but you could just do it for fun or for something to grow off-season.
sekio said:
That's what pharma companies do - poppy straw is the top foot or so of the dry poppy plant plus capsule. It's crushed, boiled in acid, and then extracted.
Click to expand...
I think the prefered method is to base/acid extract it with a 1:1 mixture of butanol and toluene. Also with, IIRC, methylene chloride and 1% isopropanol. The kabay method is still used by some.

The extract is called concentrate of poppy straw, traditionally called meconium.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top