Drawing of White Poppy Papaver somniferum after a handcoloured lithograph in Flora medica The white poppy is the source of opium obtained from the sap of the seed head Opium is the source of many analgesics the most important of which is morphine In addition to its beneficial effects however opium has been used widely as a narcotic drug forming dependency at an early stage Historically opium has been smoked in the Far East for centuries China being a major source of the spread of opium abuse in the early and mid th century
