Poppy tea

Canadian authorities have noted the presence of dode or doda in the South Asian community, a traditional form of poppy tea.

Its effects derive from the fact that it binds to and activates mu opioid receptors in the brain, spinal cord, stomach and intestine.

Other species of poppies, numbering in the hundreds, do not contain morphine or codeine in useful amounts, but may contain non-narcotic alkaloids like protopine, sanguinarine or berberine.

Side effects increase with dosage, and include drowsiness, mild stomach ache, lethargy, urinary retention, bradypnea, constipation, nausea, respiratory depression, and death.

[14] In the United States, in 2003, a 17-year-old who, according to his parents, was self-treating his anxiety with home-brewed poppy seed tea, died of pulmonary edema caused by acute morphine and codeine intoxication.

[15] A Drug Alert posted by the DOJ in 2010 pointed to five deaths possibly resulting from drinking of poppy tea.

[17] In Canada, on 19 May 2012, a 19-year-old from Nova Scotia died after drinking the tea from a poppy seed pod he purchased on the Internet.

[19] Some instances of death or injury associated with the consumption of poppy seed tea have involved users who combined the beverage with other nervous system depressants (i.e. alcohol, tranquillizers, benzodiazepines).