Current Scheduling Status
None
Year(s) and type of review / ECDD meetings
Drug Class
Recommendation (from TRS)
ECDD Technical summary
Poppy straw is defined as "all parts (except the seeds) of the opium poppy, after mowing". Opium poppy means any plant of the species Papaver somniferum L. Poppy straw has not been previously reviewed by WHO. However, within the established framework of collaboration between INCB and WHO, the desirability of evaluating the abuse liability of poppy straw extracts was pointed out during the Sixty-fourth Session of INCB in May 1998.
Licit cultivation of the opium poppy is reported by 16 countries, the seeds of which are traded internationally. Poppy straw, which was once a useless by product of poppy cultivation, has become an important source of morphine and related alkaloids. In a few countries, poppy straw is used for decorative purposes. There is also some international trade in poppy straw. Although strict control measures apply to the cultivation of the opium poppy for the production of opium, its cultivation for other purposes is not subject to the same degree of regulation. In the past decoction of poppy capsules was used as a hypnotic. Abuse by opiate abusers was also well known. Since the late 1970s, a new method has been used to prepare poppy straw extract; this involves the hot water extraction of alkaloids from the poppy straw, followed by concentration of the extract and treatment of the residue with an
acetylating agent (acetic anhydride or concentrated acetic acid). The resulting liquid, administered by intravenous injection, is used in a number of countries in Central and Eastern Europe, where it has led to the development of health problems commonly associated with intravenous drug abuse, such as the spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.
Recommendation
In considering poppy straw, the Committee noted that there are some varieties of opium poppy which contain only negligible concentrations
of opiates. The Committee further noted that the poppy straw extracts that are actually abused are already controlled under the 1961 Convention because these extracts meet the definition of a "preparation" (a mixture, solid or liquid containing a drug controlled under the 1961 Convention). An INCB survey has documented that poppy straw can be readily converted into such preparations. However, there are no data to suggest that its conversion into a drug already in Schedule I or II of the 1961 Convention has become any easier than previously. Since the scheduling criterion would require poppy straw to be readily convertible to a controlled drug, the Committee did not recommend critical review.
Poppy straw is defined as "all parts (except the seeds) of the opium poppy, after mowing". Opium poppy means any plant of the species Papaver somniferum L. Poppy straw has not been previously reviewed by WHO. However, within the established framework of collaboration between INCB and WHO, the desirability of evaluating the abuse liability of poppy straw extracts was pointed out during the Sixty-fourth Session of INCB in May 1998.
Licit cultivation of the opium poppy is reported by 16 countries, the seeds of which are traded internationally. Poppy straw, which was once a useless by product of poppy cultivation, has become an important source of morphine and related alkaloids. In a few countries, poppy straw is used for decorative purposes. There is also some international trade in poppy straw. Although strict control measures apply to the cultivation of the opium poppy for the production of opium, its cultivation for other purposes is not subject to the same degree of regulation. In the past decoction of poppy capsules was used as a hypnotic. Abuse by opiate abusers was also well known. Since the late 1970s, a new method has been used to prepare poppy straw extract; this involves the hot water extraction of alkaloids from the poppy straw, followed by concentration of the extract and treatment of the residue with an
acetylating agent (acetic anhydride or concentrated acetic acid). The resulting liquid, administered by intravenous injection, is used in a number of countries in Central and Eastern Europe, where it has led to the development of health problems commonly associated with intravenous drug abuse, such as the spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.
Recommendation
In considering poppy straw, the Committee noted that there are some varieties of opium poppy which contain only negligible concentrations
of opiates. The Committee further noted that the poppy straw extracts that are actually abused are already controlled under the 1961 Convention because these extracts meet the definition of a "preparation" (a mixture, solid or liquid containing a drug controlled under the 1961 Convention). An INCB survey has documented that poppy straw can be readily converted into such preparations. However, there are no data to suggest that its conversion into a drug already in Schedule I or II of the 1961 Convention has become any easier than previously. Since the scheduling criterion would require poppy straw to be readily convertible to a controlled drug, the Committee did not recommend critical review.
ECDD Recommendation
No change in scheduling
Link to full TRS
who_trs_903.pdf1.33 MB