page_title: Papaver somniferum
section_title: Restrictions
hierarchical_section_title: Papaver somniferum / Restrictions
caption_attribution_description: Blaumohn-, Graumohn- und Weißmohnsamen
context_page_description: Papaver somniferum, commonly known as the opium poppy or breadseed poppy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae. It is the species of plant from which both opium and poppy seeds are derived and is also a valuable ornamental plant, grown in gardens. Its native range is probably the eastern Mediterranean, but is now obscured by ancient introductions and cultivation, being naturalized across much of Europe and Asia.
  This poppy is grown as an agricultural crop on a large scale, for one of three primary purposes. The first is to produce seeds that are eaten by humans, known commonly as poppy seed. The second is to produce opium for use mainly by the pharmaceutical industry. The third is to produce other alkaloids, mainly thebaine and oripavine, that are processed by the pharmaceutical industry into drugs such as hydrocodone and oxycodone. Each of these goals has special breeds that are targeted at one of these businesses, and breeding efforts are continually underway. A comparatively small amount of Papaver somniferum is also produced commercially for ornamental purposes.
context_section_description: In most of Central Europe, poppyseed is commonly used for traditional pastries and cakes, and it is legal to grow poppies throughout the region, although Germany requires a license.
  Since January 1999 in the Czech Republic, according to the 167/1998 Sb. Addictive Substances Act, poppies growing in fields larger than 100 square metres (120 sq yd) is obliged for reporting to the local Custom Office. Extraction of opium from the plants is prohibited by law (§ 15 letter d/ of the act). It is also prohibited to grow varieties with more than 0.8% of morphine in dry matter of their capsules, excluding research and experimental purposes (§24/1b/ of the act). The name Czech blue poppy refers to blue poppy seeds used for food.
  The United Kingdom does not require a license for opium poppy cultivation, but does for extracting opium for medicinal products.
  
  In the United States, opium poppies and poppy straw are prohibited. As the opium poppy is legal for culinary or esthetic reasons, poppies were once grown as a cash crop by farmers in California. The law of poppy cultivation in the United States is somewhat ambiguous. The reason for the ambiguity is that the Opium Poppy Control Act of 1942 (now repealed) stated that any opium poppies should be declared illegal, even if the farmers were issued a state permit. § 3 of the Opium Poppy Control Act stated: 
  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 the opium poppy, or to permit the production of the opium poppy in or upon any place owned, occupied, used, or controlled by him.
   This led to the Poppy Rebellion, and to the Narcotics Bureau arresting anyone planting opium poppies and forcing the destruction of poppy fields of anyone who defied the prohibition of poppy cultivation. Though the press of those days favored the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, the state of California supported the farmers who grew opium poppies for their seeds for uses in foods such as poppyseed muffins. Today, this area of law has remained vague and remains somewhat controversial in the United States. The Opium Poppy Control Act of 1942 was repealed on 27 October 1970.
  Canada forbids possessing, seeking or obtaining the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), its preparations, derivatives, alkaloids and salts, although an exception is made for poppyseed.
  In some parts of Australia, P. somniferum is illegal to cultivate, but in Tasmania, some 50% of the world supply is cultivated. In New Zealand, it is legal to cultivate the opium poppy as long as it is not used to produce banned drugs.
  In United Arab Emirates the cultivation of the opium poppy is illegal, as is possession of poppyseed. At least one man has been imprisoned for possessing poppyseed obtained from a bread roll.
  Burma bans cultivation in certain provinces. In northern Burma bans have ended a century-old tradition of growing the opium poppy. Between 20,000 and 30,000 former poppy farmers left the Kokang region as a result of the ban in 2002. People from the Wa region, where the ban was implemented in 2005, fled to areas where growing opium is still possible.
  In South Korea, the cultivation of the opium poppy is strictly prohibited.
caption: Dried blue, gray, and white poppy seeds used for pastries in Germany
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