Poppy straw

[1] The field-dried leaves, stalk, and seed pod are then used in commercial manufacture of morphine or other poppy-alkaloid derived drugs, by first processing the material, separating the seeds, and then making concentrate of poppy straw[2] where no extraction using the traditional methods of latex extraction has been made.

This changed in 1927 when János Kabay developed a chemical process to extract morphine from the crushed capsule.

Many varieties, strains, and cultivars of Papaver somniferum are in existence, and the alkaloid content can vary significantly.

[8] Traditional harvesting of opium poppies to produce opiates involved the labor-intensive work of making shallow cuts in the immature fruits (seed pods) so that the latex would leak out and dry, then returning the following day to scrape off the dry latex, known as raw opium.

Some producers mow the plants high, so that the harvest consists almost entirely of the fruits (seed pods), omitting the stalks, leaves, and roots.

[10] The first commercial process by which opiates are extracted from poppy straw was invented in Hungary by János Kabay.

Kabay applied his new process initially to fields of opium poppies between the stages of flowering and maturity, while the fruits were green.

This had several disadvantages: the immature poppy seeds could not be winnowed, so not only was the seed crop lost but their poppyseed oil interfered with the process; the abundant chlorophyll in the green plants also interfered; and an entire year's crop had to be processed in two months, as it reached the fruit stage.

[14] At least one manufacturer, Tasmanian Alkaloids, produces both high-morphine and high-thebaine/oripavine types of poppy straw concentrate; the latter is used by pharmaceutical manufacturers to make semi-synthetic and synthetic opioids such as hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxycodone, oxymorphone, nalbuphine, naloxone, naltrexone, buprenorphine, butorphanol and etorphine.

[5] Thus, over 90% of the world production of legal opiates, including medical morphine, now is produced from poppy straw.

With the establishment of poppy straw as the source of the majority of natural morphine and other opiates, much of the world production of opium is destined for illicit uses.

In 1981 dried capsules being sold for decoration in Sweden were found to have been lanced 2 to 5 times with a tool having 3 to 4 blades and the opium scraped off.

These levels of morphine obtained from "exhausted" plants suggests that for producers of licit opium, poppy straw may be a profitable second crop.

Licit opium was produced also in Democratic People's Republic of Korea for domestic use, and in Japan for maintenance of the pertinent technology (small quantities).

It is reported primarily in clandestine laboratories in Moldova, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine, using domestic poppy straw.