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تسجيل

NARCOTICS

المؤلف:  Max M. Houck، Jay A. Siegel

المصدر:  Fundamentals of Forensic Science

الجزء والصفحة:  p332-333

2026-08-08

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NARCOTICS

Do you ever wonder why, in the classic movie, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy fell asleep in the field of beautiful red flowers on her way to the castle of Oz? Those were the flowers of the opium poppy; Papaver somniferum, a plant with more than 5000 years history as a medicinal plant. Opium, the resin from the poppy plant, has been, at least until the past 100 years or so, the one reliable, naturally occurring substance that physicians could use for pain and suffering, and for diarrhea and dehydration from dysentery. It has also given users pleasure, peace, rest, and relief from anxiety. These latter effects have caused opium and its derivatives to be abused throughout its history. Its highly addictive nature has also placed many of these people in its grip for much of their lives. An opium poppy pod is shown in Figure 1. Opium resin is contained within the pod. One of the ancient ways that opium resin is harvested is for the farmer to make slits in the pods. As the resin oozes out, workers run through the fields wearing clothing to which the resin will cling. The clothing is laid out to dry and then resin is then removed. It can be smoked as is, or extracted to remove naturally occurring narcotics such as morphine or codeine.

FIGURE 1 A pod from the opium poppy plant. At harvest time, the pods are slit open, allowing the resin to ooze out. This is gathered and dried. It contains about 10% morphine and a lesser amount of codeine. The resin itself has been smoked for thousands of years.