Which poppy plants make opium

However, these samples were also limited in quantity due to the nature of the seizures in source countries. In addition, few samples had ample mass to enable replicative comparisons of the methods we evaluated in this study. This limited the depth of our sub-studies and we recommend that the data presented herein be used as a starting point for further refinement of the procedure to extract opium poppy DNA from heroin.

For example, our small whole genome amplification sub-study indicated that there was no benefit to the use of these methods. Due to the nature and type of samples, any research group would face similar limitations to successful identification of poppy DNA caused by sample availability. The ability to obtain an opium poppy DNA profile from heroin opens a host of new avenues for law enforcement. This genetic information, through the use of high throughput sequencing, will likely enable the identification of the source country or region of seized heroin and positive identification of poppy-derived illicit drugs.

This lays the foundation for the information that can then be used for interdiction of the drug trade from a local to a global scale. Source information may provide valuable intelligence leading to the interruption of this terror-funding stream or other illegal activities. Louis, MO. The reagent blanks consist of all reagents used in the extraction and without added DNA and were processed and analyzed quantified and amplified in concert with all experimental samples.

DNA was extracted from opium gum by first mechanically pulverizing via mortar and pestle, either 1. Latex samples are typically suspended in water; therefore, the extraction technique in this method was similar to that used for opium, but it required removal of the aqueous phase. The remaining procedure is identical to the opium procedure. Black tar heroin is particularly difficult to handle due to the gummy yet dense nature of the sample. The samples were then flash frozen in liquid nitrogen, scraped within the vial.

The frozen material was broken up in the vial and scraped from the sides into a powder and 2. If a dry pellet formed, vortexing was needed. In order to maximize amplification of low copy number samples, DNA extracts were concentrated prior to amplification.

DNA extracts 2. Amplification of the samples was carried out with a two-step cycling method using two different polymerases. The first round of amplification used the Omni KlenTaq polymerase Tables 11 and This was used to combat the low quality of the DNA expected in opium and heroin samples.

The Omni KlenTaq master mix was spiked with a dilution of the Roche Fast Start High Fidelity polymerase to take advantage of the proofreading activity. The second round of amplification was carried out using Roche Fast Start High Fidelity polymerase without purification of the sample Tables 13 and The fluorescence crossing point C p generated in the LightCycler software 1.

Controls were included in every quantitation and amplification. DNA extraction negative controls reagent blanks or RB consisting of all reagents used in the extraction and without added DNA were processed and analyzed quantified and amplified with samples with added material.

PCR negative controls No-template controls, NTCs consisting of the amplification reagents and specific primer sets used within each reaction were included with every qPCR run. This indicates that the extractions were contaminate free and the primers did have aberrant specificity for any DNAs that may be present in the samples that were not poppy DNA. Alternatively, gel purification could be done in place of the AMPure procedure.

The markers contain microsatellite sequences for use in potential downstream genetic identification assays Supplementary Information: Table These results indicate that these sequences are unique. In addition, the primerBLAST query results did not return any target sequences within the nr database, therefore specificity for the Papaver somniferum L. Note, the poppy-specific primer sequences used in this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Capillary electrophoresis was used to further characterize the DNA markers. Capillary electrophoresis was performed using an injection voltage of 1. The data relating to poppy-specific primer sequences used in this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Finklea, K. Heroin Trafficking in the United States. Congressional Research Service R Lurie, I.

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Genes encoding norcoclaurine synthase occur as tandem fusions in the Papaveraceae. Millgate, A. Analgesia: Morphine-pathway block in top1 poppies. Nature, , — Singh, S. Alkaloid diversity in relation to breeding for specific alkaloids in opium poppy Papaver somniferum L. Czech J. Plant Breed 46 , — Google Scholar. Dehghan, E. Application of conventional and new biotechnological approaches for improving of morphinane alkaloids production.

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Brandariz-Fontes, C. Altschul, S. Basic local alignment search tool. Morgulis, A. Bioinformatics 15 , — These are all varieties of Papaver somniferum. The "Flanders Poppy" or "American Legion Poppy" was examined without any morphine being found: this is a variety of Papaver rhoeas. Later, other varieties and species were examined, including of course the California Poppy, the state flower of California Eschscholzia californica.

Morphine was not found in any other species than Papaver somniferum. There were a little over six acres of poppies grown in the valley for flower seeds, and acres for the commercial production of edible poppy-seed. At the request of the Narcotics Bureau, the flower-seed companies agreed to discontinue their listing of morphine-containing poppies, varieties of Papaver somniferum generally listed as "Tall Annual Poppies" in the seed catalogues. These plants were destroyed and the seeds were not saved.

The seed intended for the bakery trade was allowed to be sold. The residual plant material was destroyed under supervision of state and Federal narcotics officers. The growers were asked not to save any seed for future crops. They were also notified that new legislation was being sought. The Commissioner of Narcotics wrote to his District Supervisor: "We should make all proper effort to discourage and if possible prevent the production of the opium poppy because of the dangerous potentiality incident to such a widespread supply of source material for morphine, which may, of course, lead to correspondingly extensive abuses".

At this same time-July an Oregon newspaper editor wrote enthusiastically of the beginning of poppy culture there. It had been introduced by a former resident of Czechoslovakia, who sowed eighty acres in poppies on his Oregon farm, forty in the spring and forty in the autumn.

The Commissioner of Narcotics wrote pointing out the dangers inherent in increased poppy cultivation; the editor replied that they had not thought of any but agricultural possibilities.

The Commissioner asked that no further encouragement be given to poppy growing and said that the Narcotics Bureau wanted no publicity on the subject until proposed legislation was further along. This last point was apparently not well understood in California.

The state narcotics enforcement office prepared a Press release publicizing the destruction of the morphine-containing plant material and the representatives of the Federal Narcotics Bureau even co-operated in allowing photographs and publicity information to be given to the newspapers.

Considering the lack of real legal control over poppy cultivation for seed, the publicity obtained was unfortunate, dangerous, and potentially very harmful. The newspapers seized the opportunity for sensation. Here are some headlines that appeared:. The Association wished to provide for legal or acknowledged cultivation of the poppy.

The imported poppy-seed had been commercially handled in the United States by the spice trade. In December it was found that the president of a wholesale spice company in Chicago, who was also Director of the American Spice Trade Association, had been very energetically propagandizing for domestic poppy cultivation.

He had directly induced twenty-two growers in different parts of the country to plant poppies for sale of the seed to his company. At this time, growers in California were planting or preparing to plant for their crop. Later claims that the seed-producing poppy was not really an opium poppy, that it had only an insignificant amount of morphine, etc.

In California, a division of the state government, Drug and Oil Plant Development, was, at this time, urging California farmers to grow the poppy. Planting of 6, acres was advocated, which it was claimed would produce 6 million pounds of poppy-seed. Actually, the State Division of Narcotics Enforcement, toward the end of or early in , issued permits for the planting of 2, acres to opium poppy.

This was apparently done without consulting or notifying the Federal authorities, and the United States Narcotics Bureau in Washington did not become aware of it until May The United States Commissioner of Narcotics had understood that a tacit agreement existed that the state would not "license" growers except by agreement with the Federal Government. The state Chief of Narcotics Enforcement explained:. I was informed that the amendments which had been proposed and enacted into law in this state legalized the growing of poppies bearing opium and that we had no recourse other than to inquire into the good moral character of the grower and satisfy ourselves that the individual was not a trafficker in narcotics.

He also pointed out that nothing further had been heard relative to pending Federal legislation to outlaw poppy growing. Actually this legislation was being prepared but the Narcotics Bureau did not wish advance publicity on it.

The poppy growers were not the same men as in the preceding-year. Previously they had been seed growers for the companies marketing flower and vegetable seeds; in they were "practical farmers who are in the business for just as much money as they can get out of it. A number had not had any previous experience with poppies. Some of these latter, after securing permits, did not even plant poppies, others had crop failures. It is said that only acres, registered under state permits, were actually grown in this year.

To these growers, however, the crop was enormously profitable. The Commissioner of Narcotics issued an order to "warn all persons concerned of the danger, inseparably connected with the cultivation of the opium poppy for any purpose, of providing a new source of supply of contraband morphine to drug peddlers and addicts".

The poppy growers were not much impressed. They were not interested in possible narcotic dangers but in the high price of poppy-seed. Their fields were unguarded and sometimes quite open to the public road.

Capsules obtained for analyses showed, on the dry basis, from 0. The Federal poppy control bill was passed by both Houses of Congress and was signed by the President on Saturday, 12 December It was headed:. The term 'opium poppy' includes the plant Papaver somniferum , any other plant which is the source of opium or opium products, and any part of any such plant. It shall be unlawful for any person who is not the holder of a license authorizing him to produce the opium poppy, duly issued to him by the Secretary of the Treasury in accordance with the provisions of this Act, to produce or attempt to produce the opium poppy, or to permit the production of the opium poppy, in or upon any place owned, occupied, used, or controlled by him.

All licenses issued under this Act shall be limited to such number, localities, and areas as the Secretary of the Treasury shall determine to be appropriate to supply the medical and scientific needs of the United States for opium or opium products, with due regard to provision for reasonable reserves: Provided, however, that nothing contained in this Act shall be construed as requiring the Secretary of the Treasury to issue or renew any license or licenses under the provisions of this Act.

Any opium poppies which have been produced or otherwise obtained heretofore, and which may be produced or otherwise obtained hereafter in violation of any of the provisions of this Act, shall be seized by and forfeited to the United States. In most states the Opium Poppy Control Act immediately ended commercial poppy cultivation, but in California it only produced protests and demands that the cultivation be licensed.

The law was misunderstood by some at first, and was interpreted in the same sense as the California state law, which had resulted only in expansion of the poppy culture. Thus a "United Press" dispatch published in some papers even had the heading "Opium Poppy to be grown", and went on to say: "President Roosevelt has signed legislation designed to promote production of the opium poppy in the United States, under close supervision of the Treasury and Agriculture Departments, to furnish a domestic source of supply of the narcotic for medical purposes".

The real purpose of the law was the exact opposite-not to "promote production of the opium poppy" but to end it. The Narcotics Bureau replied to inquiries as follows:. There is no immediate or presently prospective need for the growth of the opium poppy to supply medical and scientific needs, and, therefore, it is not now anticipated that any licenses will be issued.

The California growers contended that their situation had not been sufficiently taken into consideration by Congress: the law, they said, was all right for mid-western or northern growers, but their seed was already in the ground when the law was passed 11 December , to say nothing of its effective date, 9 February The officials of the Narcotics Bureau had to admit some justice to this view.

Privately, they blamed the state authorities who had issued permits for poppy growing, even when the legislation was before Congress. Moreover, it was now learned that the United State Department of Agriculture had approved the poppy cultivation! Because of the war, the farmers were required to file, with this Department, their plans for the year's crop; when these plans included the production of poppy-seed for food purposes, they had been approved by the local representatives of the Department of Agriculture, without any question having been raised.

Nine permit-holders were not present; two wrote that they had not planted, two that they could not attend that day, and five had not been heard from at that time.

The rather casual attitude of the farmers is illustrated by the explanation of one grower, without a permit, who attended the conference. He said he had not asked for the state permit as he was very busy and wished to see first whether the seed would sprout or not. It was finally decided that the growers would be permitted to harvest their crop, under state and Federal supervision, and with destruction, as before, of all plant residues left after obtaining the seeds.

Of course, neither the Federal nor the state officials anticipated that poppies would again be planted without Federal licences. The Federal officials also expected that the state permits would henceforth be refused. Both these assumptions proved to be incorrect, leading to an apparent conflict between state and Federal authority, and to the so-called "Poppy Rebellion" of California.

Under date of 6 July , the Commissioner of Narcotics received a letter from the California Chief of the Division of Narcotics Enforcement no longer the same man as the one who had held this office when the cases began , stating:. This promise was not destined to be fulfilled. The last clause may have indicated a hope that the Narcotics Bureau would relent and license poppy cultivation: there was considerable political pressure toward this, but the Bureau remained adamant.

Early in December , the Chief of the Division of Narcotics Enforcement of California informed the Federal officials that the Attorney General of the state had handed down a decision which obliged him to issue state permits for the growing of opium poppies in California.

This decision, which led to a conflict between state and Federal authority, was not addressed to the Division of Narcotics Enforcement, but was contained in a letter to the State Director of Agriculture, in reply to an inquiry of the latter.

The letter cast doubt on the Federal law:. You state that for some years growers have been engaged in the State in the production of blue poppy seeds for edible use pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 1, Division 10, of the Health and Safety Code. It appears from your letter that the variety so grown is distinct from that grown for the production of opium.

It is suggested that while such poppy may come within the classification of Papaver Somniferum, it is actually not suitable for producing opium The state Narcotic Enforcement Office decided that they were obliged to issue state "permits", but attached the following warning to them:. The office of the Attorney-General of California attempted to get this "warning" clause left off the permits, because it might seem to make a.

At any rate, the growers were also warned by the United States Narcotics Bureau, as will shortly be related. As of 5 February , the state Division of Narcotic Enforcement bad issued twenty-three permits to grow a total of 1, acres of opium poppies. Heretofore the growers had generally conceded that their poppies were opium poppies, i. The statement in the Attorney-General's letter, that the seed-producing poppy "is actually not suitable for producing opium", though not originating in his office, marked the inauguration of an intensified campaign to convince the public and Congress of the complete harmlessness of the seed-producing poppy-even in defiance of the facts-and to force the Narcotics Bureau to withdraw its opposition to poppy cultivation.

Some of the propagandists were self-deceived; some of the growers were undoubtedly convinced because they were now being told what they wanted to believe. The letter to the Attorney-General in November from the state Department of Agriculture had actually stated, "Apparently, under California climatic conditions, the morphine content is practically non-existent".

Already, in December , an official of the state Department of Agriculture admitted; "We might have been a little over optimistic as to the lack of morphine content in said poppies"-but the campaign kept on. In February , one of the growers wrote to the local office of the Narcotics Bureau: "We were advised by our State Attorney-General's Office, by the State Department of Agriculture and by the University of California, that, because of recent analyses, it is questionable owing to the lack of opium products in our California adapted edible blue-poppy seed [ sic ] whether we need any permit of any nature".

The issue, really a straight-out one of law observance, was being confused in many ways. Of course, the narcotics officials had not claimed that the poppy seed was narcotic, only that narcotics were inevitably produced in producing the poppy-seed.

Even this was now being denied: a commercial chemical laboratory was found in San Francisco, which, with no previous experience in analysing for morphine, made a perfunctory examination of poppy capsules and stems, and was then willing to report, "we can find no trace of morphine". Poppy growers wrote to their Congressmen, and several wrote to Henry Wallace, then Vice-President, whose interest in agricultural subjects was well known, asking them to intervene in favour of poppy cultivation. One letter to the Vice-President declared:.

Narcotics Bureau was, of course, unaware of any such "admissions". So far as the contention had any basis in fact, it may have referred to statements that the legal commercial production of opium could not profitably be made, for the legitimate market; but what was feared was illicit production for the illicit market, in which narcotics commanded prices many times higher than the values in the legal trade.

In , by direction of the Commissioner of Narcotics, a scientific study was made, chiefly, though not entirely, from the published literature, on Papaver somniferum and other poppies. It was shown that all varieties of Papaver somniferum that have been examined produce morphine, while no other plant is known to do so. The reported isolation of morphine in the guise of "hopeine" from hops, in the last century, was a fraud and a myth.

A few erroneous analyses of some plants of the poppy family were made in the early days, but these were later corrected. It is probable that Papaver setigerum -the closest relative of Papaver somniferum -does produce morphine, but no record of a careful botano-chemical study was found.

In any case, Papaver setigerum is only a rather rare wild flower, found in the Mediterranean region, occasionally grown in gardens but not grown commercially even for floral purposes. Other poppies, such as the California poppy Eschscholzia californica , the Mexican poppy Argemone mexicana , the Oriental poppy Papaver orientale , and the common "corn poppy" or "field poppy" of Europe, the progenitor of the Shirley poppies Papaver rhoeas , have been analysed and other kinds of alkaloids found in them, but not morphine.

By original work it was shown that the Tulip poppy Papaver glaucum , though listed as a close relative of Papaver somniferum , is chemically more closely related to Papaver rhoeas, and contains no morphine. In the beginning the Narcotics Bureau had proceeded largely by suasion, because there was not a firm legal basis for more vigorous action.

Even after the Opium Poppy Control Act came into effect, the California farmers had been allowed to harvest their poppy-seed, because cultivation had been started before the law was enacted, and the violations were not wilful. The long period of vegetation promotes the formation of alkaloids and, moreover, the spring crop may not develop sufficiently before the dry period and may wither without yielding either opium or seeds.

Spring sowing is carried out in the first fine days of the year, usually in the second half of February or the first half of March. The seeds are very small, and are difficult to sow evenly. For this reason, in some places they are mixed with sand 2 to 4 kg of sand per kg of seed. Sowing with a seeder is carried out usually in rows at intervals of 30 to 40 cm. The earth is harrowed, so that the seeds are sown 1 or 2 cm deep.

From 6 to 10 kg of seed are used to sow one hectare. The spring operations are usually carried out in the second half of February and consist of pulling up grass and weeds, thinning so that one plant should be approximately 10 cm away from the next and banking up with earth. A second banking-up operation is usually carried out in the first half of March.

At the beginning of May, the fields become white with the flowering poppy, and when the flowers fall off, the capsules develop. Each plant yields from five to eight capsules. The incisions are made before the capsules are quite ripe, ten to fifteen days after the flowers fall off, at the end of May or the beginning of June. The best time for making the incisions is determined by the colour and hardness of the capsules and by the appearance of a blue-brown ring at the bottom of the capsule.

The period during which the capsules can be incised and the latex successfully collected does not exceed four to six days. If the right moment is missed, the capsules take on a yellowish shade and give less latex, finally yielding nothing at all. Cutting is usually done between 11 a. A quarter of the capsule is always left uncut, to allow a further circulation of nutritious substances at the top of the capsule.

Small drops of white, milky juice then begin to flow from the incision, and exposed to the air solidify and grow darker. The incision must be neither too shallow nor too deep. If it is too shallow, the number of latex vessels affected may be too small and too little juice will drip out; if the incision is too deep, so that the capsule is entirely cut through, the latex will flow into the capsule and the whole yield will be lost.

The incisions are made with special knives or with special tools, consisting of wooden handles fitted with sharp pieces of iron often razor blades. The size of the blade automatically regulates the depth of the incision. Tools with two or more blades are also used, to allow two or three cuts with a single motion. As soon as the incision is made, the latex begins to drip. In order to avoid brushing against the capsules, the harvesters making incisions must walk backwards. Unlike the procedure in certain Far Eastern countries the incisions are never repeated.

At dawn the following day, the gathering of the raw opium begins; this consists of collecting the solidified drops of latex which have gathered overnight around the incision in the capsule. The opium is stripped from the capsule with a special blunt knife and is collected in a conical vessel attached to the harvester's belt or into a rumex or poppy leaf. It is then kneaded until it becomes dark, dried for a short time and thereupon is formed into to 1.

That is the form in which it is delivered by the producers. It has been proved that two, three or more incisions yield more opium, but each subsequent incision produces opium with a lower morphine content. In countries which used to supply the opium smoking market, manifold incisions of the capsules were profitable, since more opium could thus be obtained.

This opium is at the same time more suitable for smoking because of its lower morphine content. Yugoslav opium has an unpleasant taste and a high morphine content and has therefore never been in demand on the smokers' market nor exported for this purpose.

It is intended only for the Western market, where morphine content is in demand. Accordingly, manifold incision of capsules is not profitable. The fact that the capsules are cut only once accounts for the considerably greater output of opium per hectare in Far Eastern countries than in Yugoslavia. Between 0.

The output per hectare varies between 4 and 15 kg, according to the place and year. About three weeks after the opium harvest, the plant becomes fully ripe and the capsules are collected and broken up for the seeds, which are used to manufacture oil.

Between and kg of seeds are obtained per hectare, according to the place and year. The cultivation of the opium poppy is highly profitable and, at the same time, very risky for the producer. One advantage is that nearly the whole plant can be used. Opium and poppy seeds are commodities for which there is always a market.

The relatively high value of these products in relation to their volume is a highly favourable factor for producers in parts of the country with poor communications. Continuous contact with the outlet, which is essential, for example, in market gardening, is not required in this case, and opium can be kept for a long time without any danger of deterioration in quality storage leads to a decrease in the moisture, but the amount of morphine remains unchanged.

The seed cakes left after the oil has been extracted are used as cattle food, the dry capsules are sold as raw material for the production of alkaloids and the remaining straw is used as litter and as fuel to replace wood a large proportion of the opium region is poor in timber.

The relatively quick growth of the plant often makes it possible to use the soil for yet another crop in the same season, while the early harvesting of opium gives the producer his first income of the year. The main cultivation operations take place at a time when no other agricultural work has to be done.

Finally, some kinds of soil are suitable only for cultivating the opium poppy and yield considerably less of any other crop. On the other hand, this is one of the agricultural crops exposed to the greatest risks, which persist throughout the growing period of the plant. Sowing takes place in the autumn, after the first autumn rains moisten the earth.

If these rains fall too late, the plant is insufficiently developed by the winter, and is therefore sensitive to cold and may be destroyed even in a mild winter. Another risk of crop failure is that of a hard winter, especially without snow. An unduly mild winter is also unsuitable, for the plants can develop too fast and the opium gathering period may occur too early, when rains are more frequent.

A wet spring can promote the development of plant diseases to which the poppy is very sensitive and too much moisture in the ground makes the latex too thin and causes it to trickle out of the capsule on to the ground after incision. The chief danger of the producer, however, is rain at the time of the harvest, as the harvest can be potsponed for only a few days. Rain during the night following the incising of the capsules may entirely wash away the drops of latex and completely destroy the crop.

Even dew can cause serious damage at that period. In the case of spring cultivation, there is the further risk of dry weather setting in before the plants are sufficiently developed, so that they may wither without yielding either opium or seeds. The opium poppy is one of the most intensive agricultural cultivations and requires a great deal of manpower; the poppy needs constant care throughout its period of growth.

Approximately 30 days of team work and manpower days including collection of opium and seeds are required to cultivate one hectare. A shortage of specialized labour at harvest-time is yet another risk to which the cultivation of the opium poppy is exposed. The hazards of opium poppy cultivation may best be seen from table 1. While 70, kg were produced in , only 2, kg were produced in The mechanization of agriculture cannot make the production of opium much cheaper.

Apart from ploughing, sowing and winnowing the seeds with ploughs, seeders and winnowers the remaining operations can be performed only by human hand. Labour takes up from 80 to 90 per cent of the production costs.

From above it is evident that opium is not suitable for large state or co-operative farms, using modern agricultural techniques, nor for large areas in general. However, the opium poppy is being cultivated also on state and co-operative farms, but over, relatively small areas, as well as on individual farms.