DOSE:

1 glass

oral

Poppies - Opium

(tea)

BODY WEIGHT:

175 lb

My second attempt at poppy tea, I hoped that this one would be more pleasureable than the last - several months ago - which left me mildly nauseated and about as buzzed as an evening with Tylenol PM. After reading an article on the net that emphasized the use of vitamin C to extract the opioids from the poppy mash, I gave it another go. I wasn't anticipating much, as the poppy heads were probably almost a year old.

I was amazed at the results.

Here is the recipe I tried, kicked up a bit from the original I read:

Break open the dried seed heads of 3 giant poppies (the size of a tennis ball, almost). One or two would probably suffice most people - I'm a big girl and have a bit of a tolerance. Empty the seeds and save them for planting.

Process the seed heads in a blender with 2 cups scalding hot water (don't seal the lid on tightly or the steam will pop it off and you'll have a mess and maybe get burnt) until it looks like a tan sludge. Squeeze the juice of a lemon into the mixture (or you could use a lime, orange or even a vitamin C tablet if you want). Warm 1 cup of white wine to hot, not boiling, and add to mixture. Allow to steep for 1 hour. Strain into an iced tea glass and drink. I saved the mash and mixed it with more wine, lemon juice and water to see if it could 'medicate' a second batch as well - I left it overnight.

The wine seemed to do a good job of killing the rotten flavor - I used a fruity white wine to go with the lemon juice. I don't think I'd use chardonnay as the oakey flavor it usually has might clash with the bitter poppies, and make it more rotten yet. I was surprise that I didn't have to resort to kool aid to mask it, like last time. Don't get me wrong - I still had to chug it - but it stayed down with no problem.

Initially the buzz was about what I expected from a big glass of wine. About 45 minutes into it (on a full stomach, by the way)the opiates started to kick in. An hour and a half after drinking, I was flat out high as a kite. The drug I would compare it to most closely is percocet, though I know different opiates appeal to different people. I was floaty, happy, anxious to make conversation, unconcerned with stressors and optimistic. After a while, I was intoxicated to the point of slurred speech and sightly staggering gait (the booze was a minor factor - I drink regularly about once a week)and was content to just sit and enjoy how I felt.

About 2-3 haurs after drinking I became very nauseated when I ate something. I laid down and it went away, but would come back when I would stand. I took a promethazine suppository for nausea (I had a suppository for nausea, but it's also widely sold as an expectorant - you can find promethazine in cough syrup like robitussin and it's a great antinausea drug).

Four hours after drinking my nausea had subsided, and I was still very pleasantly high. As I write, it is 5 hours later and no signs of coming down yet.

Absolutely worth the effort.


The following is my little rant about legal and illegal drugs:

Thanks, Erowid, for providing this information. After 10 years as an ER nurse, I applaud your efforts. The hypocrisy of the pharmaceutical industry and the pimping out of our nation's physicians by them has long sickened me. The 'war on drugs' seems in many cases to be another way to control consenting adults by government: to punish dealers not for any fatalities that result from the traffic of their product, but for the fact they deal in a non-taxable commodity. Marijuana and ecstasy dealers go to federal prison; meanwhile the government rushes through the testing of new antidepressants, flooding the market with happy pills that sell at ridiculous prices. Drug companies send their lobbyists to Washington on one end of the spectrum - and on the other end they send armies of perky - tittied and well toned pharmacy reps, armed with millions of dollars worth of drug samples, free food and merchandise, to hospitals, offices and clinics. All of it is intended to sway physicians into their court. And indeed, it does work. You see, if you move their product, more often than not they will visit you again the following week with more free lunches, more free calculators, more free samples...

People have looked to nature to ease their troubled minds for centuries, and I truly appreciate the forum you provide. It's like a little oasis of fact and lore for the modern day alchemists.

Exp Year: 2004	ExpID: 35751
Gender: Female
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Aug 8, 2004	Views: 40,059
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Poppies - Opium (43) : Alone (16), Glowing Experiences (4), Preparation / Recipes (30), General (1)