Poppy Seed, Morphine

The iaterpretation of forensic toxicology (18) results is often challenging. Courts frequently ask if an amount of dmg detected ia a specimen could cause a specific type of behavior, ie, would someone be under the influence of a dmg at a specific concentration, would a particular dmg concentration cause diminished capacity, or was the dmg the cause of death In a random employee dmg testing case, a worker screened positive for opiates by EMIT and gc/ms analysis of the urine specimen showed low levels of morphine. Although one possibiUty was that the iadividual was a heroia user, a review of foods eaten ia the prior 24 hours suggested a more innocent cause a poppy-seed bagel. 

Experiments in the selection of poppies for morphine production have also been made in Germany by Kiissner. The yields from capsules of two selections, over two years, were morphine 0-257 to 0-544 per cent, and codeine 0-011 to 0-029 per cent. From seven commercial varieties grown in plots of 50 square metres, the yields in grammes per square metre were seeds 141 to 200, capsules 65 to 116, morphine 0-123 to 0-471 and non-phenolic bases (codeine, thebaine, papaverine, narcotine, etc.) 0-043 to 0-131. 

Caffeine occurs in tea leaves, coffee beans, and cola nuts. Morphine is obtained from unripe opium poppy seed pods. Coniine, extracted from hemlock, is the alkaloid that killed Socrates. Fie was sentenced to death because of unconventional teaching methods teacher evaluations had teeth in them in ancient Greece. 

C17-0101. The addictive painkiller morphine, C17 Hig NO3, is the principal molecule in the milky juice that exudes from unripe poppy seed capsules. 

However, the following week his business partner informed us that increased quantities of poppy seed had been ordered for the bakeiy, up to 25 1% every week, whereas only 3 kg were required. Poppy seeds contain morphine and codeine. Blood stored in the laboratory on the day of the seizure was found to contain a very high concentration of morphine. High concentrations were... 

A positive urine test result for opioids does not necessarily mean that the individual used drugs illegally. The GC/MS instrument is very sensitive, and any morphine detected could have come from the individual having eaten poppy seed-containing bagels or pastries shortly before the test. Also, many people are prescribed opioid-containing analgesics such as Tylenol with codeine, Percodan , and Percocet , and their urine samples will test positive. At the time of urine... 

Morphine Morphine (C17H19NO3), a habit forming Class A analgesic drug, is the major bioactive constituent of opium poppy seeds. Like other opium constituents (opiates), e.g. heroin, morphine acts directly on the CNS to relieve pain. Morphine is used for the treatment of post-surgical pain and chronic pain (e.g. cancer pain), and as an adjunct to general anaesthesia, and... 

Opium, the source of morphine, is obtained from the poppy, Papaver somnlferum and P album. After incision, the poppy seed pod exudes a white substance that turns into a brown gum that is crude opium. Opium contains many alkaloids, the principle one being morphine, which is present in a concentration of about 10%. Codeine is synthesized commercially from morphine. 

More than half (57 %) of all seizure cases involved cannabis (herb, resin, oil, plants and seeds). Opiates (opium, morphine, heroin, synthetic opiates and poppy seeds), accounted for 17 per cent, with heroin alone accounting for 14 per cent of the total. This is followed by seizures of the amphetamine-type stimulants (12 %). About half of these seizures (or 5.5 % of the total) is accounted for by methamphetamine, followed by amphetamine (2.5 %) and ecstasy (2%) the rest (2 %) includes Captagon tablets (Near East) and Maxiton Forte (Egypt), ephedrone (methcathinone) and various undefined amphetamines. Coca products account for 9 percent of global seizure cases the bulk of coca related seizure cases concern cocaine (8 % of total). 

Morphine is the principal alkaloid obtained from opium. Opium is the resinous latex that exudes from the seed pod of the opium poppy, Papver somneferum, when it is lacerated. Alkaloids account for approximately 25% of opium, and of this 25% about 60% is morphine. Remains of poppy seeds and pods have been found in Neolithic caves, indicating that the use of opium predates written history. The opium poppy is native to the eastern Mediterranean, but today it is chiefly cultivated from the Middle East through southern Asia and into China and Southeast Asia. The first civilization known to use opium was the Sumerians, who inhabited Mesopotamia in present-day western Iraq, around 3500 B.c.E. Sumerians traded opium with other civilizations, and this led to the cultivation of opium poppies and the production of opium in many geographic areas including Egypt, India, Persia (Iran), Southeast Asia, and China. 

Morphine has a strong analgesic effect and has been used for the alleviation of postoperative and cancer pain since antiquity, but its use is now restricted because of its drug dependency. Morphine and its homologues were called opiates after opium, which was extracted from poppy seeds. This class of drugs are now termed opioids. 

K. Bjerver, J. Jonsson, A. Nilsson, J. Schuberth, and J. Schuberth, Morphine intake from poppy seed food, J. Pharm. Pharmacol., 34 798 (1982). 

Poppy seeds do, however, contain a substance called opium. Opium contains the drugs morphine, codeine, and heroin, collectively known as opiates. 

Each gram of poppy seeds may contain 2 mg to 18 mg of morphine and 0.6 mg to 2.4 mg of codeine. Eating foods with large amounts of poppy seeds can cause chemists to detect opiates in urine. The opiates may be at levels above employers specified limits. 

Knowing about quantities in chemical reactions is crucial to interpreting the results of drug tests. Policy-makers and chemists need to understand how the proportions of codeine to morphine caused by eating poppy seeds differ from the proportions caused by taking opiates. 

Morphine and codeine occur naturally in poppy seed, and as a result, urine specimens from poppy seed consumers resemble those obtained from heroin users. Thus, the presence of morphine alone is not a reliable indicator of heroin exposure, and a more specific marker, 6-AM, has been utilized. Unfortimately, detection of this metabolite in urine is limited due to its short half-life. 

In a study performed by Carpenter et al. designed to evaluate whether or not poppy seed consumption produces morphine-positive hair test results, five subjects consumed between 25 to 35 g of poppy seed containing approximately 112 pg/g of morphine and 11 pg/g of codeine. Samples were collected as follows all consecutive urine samples for 4 d sequential 3-d cumulative beard hair samples beginning prior to consumption of poppy seeds through 15 d and head hair samples begiiming prior to consumption of poppy seeds through 30 d. Urine samples were screened by Emit. Urine samples, beard hair, and head hair samples were extracted by SPE and assayed by GC/MS for 6-AM, morphine, and codeine. Emit results for urine were positive up... 

The validity of these theoretically determined cutoff levels was evaluated by the various field studies described below. In some of these this involved comparing the results of hair analysis to those of urinalysis and self-reports. In the case of cocaine and morphine the validation of endogenous cutoff levels involved also the controlled administration of these substances. - With morphine this was done with poppy seed and involved a comparison of hair and urine results. These experiments clearly demonstrated the greater effectiveness of the endogenous cutoff levels used by hair analysis, for all attempts to exceed the opiate cutoff level of hair analysis by the massive ingestion of poppy seeds failed. In contrast to this, the cutoff level of urinalysis was exceeded by wide margins. That this particular problem of urinalysis is not unique to poppy seeds has been demonstrated experimentally by Baselt and Change in the case of cocaine. 

Sachs, H., Schmidl, D., Hages, G., and Schwilk, B., Morphine concentration in hair after consumption of poppy seed and oral administration of MST, Int. ]. Leg. Med., in press. 

Opium has been widely used as a recreational drug and pain-killing remedy for centuries. The analgesic and narcotic effects of opium are largely due to morphine. Poppy seed tea, which contains morphine, was used as a folk remedy in parts of England until World War II. 

Morphine has very low bioavailability after oral administration because of significant first-pass metabolism. It is interesting to note, however, that the oral intake of as little as 1 g poppy seeds results in detectable urine levels of morphine for up to 24 h postingestion (Kollias-Baker Sams 2002). Morphine (0.1 mg/kg) is detectable in blood for 48 h and in urine for 144 h after... 

Klein L, Ailes N, Fackelman G E 1989 Postanesthetic equine myopathy suggestive of malignant hyperthermia. A case report. Veterinary Surgery 18 479-482 Kollias-Baker C, Sams R 2002 Detection of morphine in blood and urine samples from horses administered poppy seeds and morphine sulfate orally. Journal of Analytical Toxicology 26 81-86... 

The consumption of foods that contain poppy seeds (e.g., cakes, muffins, roUs, and bagels) may result in significant urinary excretion of morphine and codeine. Obviously,... 

Hayes, LW, Krasselt, WG, Mueggler, PA. Concentrations of morphine and codeine in serum and urine after ingestion of poppy seeds. Clin Chem, 36 806-8, 1987. 

Mule SJ, Casella GA. Rendering the poppy-seed defense defenseless Identification of 6-monoacetyl-morphine in urine by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy. Clin Chem 1988 34 1427-30. 

Struempler RE, Excretion of codeine and morphine following ingestion of poppy seeds. J Anal Toxicol 1987 11 97-9. 

Tiszavasvari Alkaloid (morphine) from poppy seed capsules... 

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