Opium

Opium, sometimes called poppy tears or *Lachryma papaveris*, is the dried latex taken from the seed capsules of the opium poppy, *Papaver somniferum*. About 12% of this substance consists of morphine, an analgesic alkaloid that can be chemically turned into heroin and other synthetic opioids—used both in medicine and in the illegal drug trade. The main psychoactive alkaloids in opium, especially morphine, work on μ-opioid receptors to produce pain relief, but long-term use leads to tolerance and dependence. The latex also contains related opiates like codeine and thebaine, along with non-analgesic alkaloids such as papaverine and noscapine. The traditional method of collecting the latex is labor-intensive: workers scratch, or "score," the immature seed pods by hand, causing the latex to ooze out and dry into a sticky yellowish residue, which is later scraped off and dehydrated.

The English word "opium" comes from Latin, which borrowed it from Ancient Greek: *ópion*, a diminutive of *opós* ("juice of a plant"). The term "meconium" (from the Greek for "opium-like," now used for newborn stools) historically referred to weaker preparations made from other parts of the poppy or different poppy species. The earliest archaeological evidence of human use of opium poppies comes from the Mediterranean region, dating to before 5000 BCE, with cultivation beginning around 3400 BCE in Mesopotamia. Opium was widely used for food, medicine, ritual, and as a painkiller across ancient civilizations, including Greece, Egypt, and Islamic societies through medieval times.

Production methods have changed little since ancient times. Selective breeding of *Papaver somniferum* has greatly increased the content of the phenanthrene alkaloids morphine, codeine, and, to a lesser extent, thebaine. Today, much of the thebaine—used as raw material to synthesize oxycodone, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, and other semisynthetic opiates—comes from extracting *Papaver orientale* or *Papaver bracteatum*. Before the Second World War, the U.S. Army contracted farmers in the Mexican state of Sinaloa to grow opium crops to supply morphine for injured soldiers. Modern opium production, though widely prohibited, still involves large-scale cultivation, especially in Afghanistan, where latex is collected by scoring poppy pods for both illicit drugs and legal medicines. Recent Taliban-led reductions have cut cultivation in Afghanistan by over 95%. In the illegal drug trade, morphine is extracted from opium latex, reducing its bulk weight by 88%, and then converted into heroin, which is nearly twice as potent.

**History**

The Mediterranean region holds the earliest archaeological evidence of human use; the oldest known seeds date to more than 5000 BCE in the Neolithic age, used for food, anesthetics, and ritual. In ancient Greece, opium was consumed in various ways, including inhaling vapors, using suppositories, applying medical poultices, and mixing it with hemlock for suicide. Opium appears in major medical texts of the ancient and medieval world, such as the Ebers Papyrus and the writings of Dioscorides, Galen, and Avicenna. Widespread medical use of unprocessed opium continued through the American Civil War, after which it was largely replaced by morphine and its successors, which could be injected at precise dosages.

**Ancient use (pre-500 AD)**

Opium has been actively collected since around 3400 BC. Residue on ancient alabaster vessels suggests deliberate opium use in Egypt, and royal tombs may have contained narcotics prized by pharaohs. At least 17 finds of *Papaver somniferum* from Neolithic settlements have been reported across Switzerland, Germany, and Spain, including large numbers of poppy seed capsules placed at a burial site in Spain’s Cueva de los Murciélagos (Bat Cave), carbon-14 dated to 4200 BC. Numerous finds of *P. somniferum* or *P. setigerum* from Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements have also been recorded. The first known cultivation of opium poppies was in Mesopotamia around 3400 BCE by the Sumerians, who called the plant *hul gil*, the "joy plant." Tablets found at Nippur, a Sumerian spiritual center south of Baghdad, describe collecting poppy juice in the morning and using it to produce opium. Cultivation continued under the Assyrians, who also collected poppy juice in the morning after scoring pods with an iron scoop; they called the juice *aratpa-pal*, possibly the root of *Papaver*. Opium production continued under the Babylonians and Egyptians.

Opium was used with poison hemlock to cause quick, painless death, and also in medicine. Sponges soaked in opium, called *spongia somnifera*, were used during surgery. The Egyptians cultivated *opium thebaicum* in famous poppy fields around 1300 BC. Opium was traded from Egypt by the Phoenicians and Minoans to destinations around the Mediterranean, including Greece, Carthage, and Europe. By 1100 BC, opium was cultivated on Cyprus, where surgical-quality knives were used to score poppy pods, and the drug was cultivated, traded, and smoked. Opium is also mentioned after the Persian conquest of Assyria and Babylonia in the 6th century BC.

From the earliest finds, opium appears to have had ritual significance; anthropologists speculate that ancient priests may have used it as proof of healing power. In Egypt, its use was largely restricted to priests, magicians, and warriors. Its invention was credited to Thoth, and it was said to have been given by Isis to Ra as a headache treatment. A Minoan figurine of a goddess from around 1300 BC contains three hairpins shaped as poppy capsules.