Everything You Need To Know About Poppy Tea

DOSE: T+ 0:00
oral Poppies - Opium (tea) T+ 0:50 20 mg oral Oxycodone (pill / tablet) T+ 1:40 10 mg oral Oxycodone (pill / tablet) T+ 1:40 50 mg oral Diphenhydramine (pill / tablet) T+ 8:00 2 bowls smoked Cannabis (plant material)

       BODY WEIGHT:
   160 lb
     

My first experience with opiates would have been early high school, freshman year I believe. Along with the misfortune of having four wisdom teeth removed, and a month later a minor surgery, I received a generous blessing of darvocet and meperidine for my trouble. Though the meperidine (supposed to be the one for severe pain) had no effect whatsoever, the darvocet opened my eyes to the glory of painkillers. At this point, I was an athlete, which allowed me to have both a moral and practical objection to 'drugs', excluding of course alcohol, which for the reasons beyond my comprehension, is always classified as a separate non-drug substance. I didn't think to abuse the pills, used them strictly for pain control, but that didn't keep me from appreciating the pleasant (understatement of the century) side effects.

Flash forward about 7 years. After dabbling briefly in painkillers (mostly lower doses of 20-35 mg of hydrocodone or oxycodone), I stopped due to the pills being prohibitively expensive. Ten dollars for a light buzz was simply not worth it when considering the fact they only lasted for 4-5 hours. Imagine my delight when I discovered that opium poppies were being freely traded on the internet.

For only a few dollars and the misfortune of tolerating the taste of the tea, the most well rounded, unintrusive opium buzz I've experienced could be had, and for the entire duration of a day (it was not uncommon for weening effects to be felt after 10 or more hours, at which point I would often smoke some bud to compliment the waning effects). I was not a fan of smoking on them before this point, as I feel the effects are best when clean and your mind unclouded by the plant, which tended to take the foreground when mixed. Given the choice of opium and bud or opium itself, I would take the lone opium in almost all cases.

This general information brings me to the report we will be following today. I have prepared a standard dose of the tea using one very large (8') with a medium sized (5-6') pot, grinding them up along with the stems (minus the stem's knot, which I cut around with scissors) in a hand held coffee grinder. This grinder has given me consistently better effects than a blender, as it becomes powder of such fineness that it is prone to significant atmospheric dispersion and could end up losing some if you are not careful with it. This fineness increases the total surface area and thus the efficiency, speed and total strength, of the extraction. Use a metal strainer to filter the liquid after about 20-30 minutes. Longer is better, but I'm not positive how long is enough to ensure getting all of it. An hour may be slightly better than 30 minutes, but 30 seems plenty in my experiences. A second extraction using the filtered pulp may be made if desired. Use about half the amount of water and expect to be perhaps 1/4 or less as much total opium in the second extraction compared to the first. Still worth doing if you're like me and want to get the most bang for your buck.

If available, loose leaf Earl Grey tea works far better than any other I've found to cover up the objectionable taste. Twinings brand works well if good quality loose leaf is unavailable, the bergamont oil is the important flavor, not the tea leaf itself. A couple tablespoons of sugar and ice cubes in the 2 cups of water/tea after 15-20 minutes of steeping round out a generally tolerable beverage. Lemon juice may be used, preferably that of a fresh lemon rather than the bottle of juice from concentrate. I've since stopped bothering, as I find the flavor without to be tolerable.

One friend of mine takes much greater issue with the taste and cannot drink it down without gagging. He manages to do so by taking a sip, then immediately taking a sip of fruit juice or other similar beverage and swallowing them together. I have done a similar method when I do not have time to make a tea, and must chew and swallow the pod in pieces. I take a small piece, sip soda, chew it up together so the pot absorbs moisture and becomes soft, and swallow it as a pulp. Worse than the tea, and takes longer, but useful in a pinch when you must be exceptionally discreet. Be careful of eating long pieces of the pod. The plant matter grows so that long, fibrous strands run all the way from the base to the top of the pod. Breaking it in half at the center will keep it from gagging you and make swallowing as pulp easier than as a bunch of thick ropes.

You may also be interested in potentiating the tea with other non-opiates. Diphenhydramine is the one I most commonly used for its sedative effects. This over the counter antihistamine is the active ingredient in benadryl, in addition to that of nearly every over the counter sleep medication. I personally use generic brand Tylonel PM, as it contains 25 mg diphenhydramine per pill, identical to the standard dose of other OTC drugs, but significantly less expensive. A bottle of 100 or so ends up being about 10 dollars or less depending on your store, and 2-4 is an adequate dose for use as an opiate potentiator. Keep in mind that each pill contains about 500mg of acetaminophen, something I try to avoid taking in large doses as it is hard on your kidneys, especially in doses over 2000mg daily. I would not recommend taking more than 4, and generally 2 will do the trick.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to find a similar PM brand painkiller without the 'maximum strength', and I suspect this is an intended safeguard by the drug companies to prevent abuse. Why causing kidney failure in the long term is considered an effective deterrent is beyond me, but do be careful if you decide to go this route. In addition to increasing the overall effects, when used as a potentiator this also has the effect of making it a more sedated buzz. You will be much more likely to get nods when combining with 50-75 mg of this substance, but I personally prefer to forgo the addition when I want to be social or have to work or drive long periods of time. The effort to stay awake can make the experience significantly less pleasant than the opiates along. Also, the fact that it is an antihistamine has the benefit of reducing the 'itchies' commonly associated with opiates. If you are one of the people who are bothered by the itching, Diphenhydramine is most definitely going to be a favorite addition to your experience.

It is also worth noting that opiates tend to act as potentiators for each other. Combining different opiates will usually result in a subjectively stronger total effect than they would be alone. With this in mind, it will likely have a significant effect on compounding the effect of additional pharmaceuticals such as the 20mg oxycodone I will be trying in this experiment.

T+0:00. Quickly gulped down tea made from two large pods. Taste is unpleasant, but very tolerable.

T+0:25. Beginning effects of tea. Very minor opium buzz.

T+0:45. Tea is coming up to pre-peak standard strength. It may not be as strong as the experience's peak, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm now on it. It may get a little bit stronger, but probably not much. It's difficult to predict the strength with any precision, as potency and size vary.

T+0:50. Now seems like a good time to take two 10/325 oxycodone I received from a friend earlier today. I have been wanting to experiment with combining the tea with a reasonable dose of painkillers. As I was about to take them, my Dad asks me if I'd like to go for a run. I agree and take the 20 mg oxycodone, chewing each pill once quickly to break it into smaller pieces without grinding it into my teeth. This may or may not have any effect, it depends on how quickly the inert material in the pills will dissolve on its own as a whole. 5 minutes later, I walk out the door to go for a brief 1.5 mile run.

T+0:55-1:15. During the run, I felt minor come-up effects from the pills. Brief shivers of euphoria that were all but suppressed by the physical exertion. It's also worth noting that constant physical exertion like running slows my stomach's digestion, so this may have simply been from the tea.

T+1:25. After recovering from being out of breath, I am still tired, but the oxycodone is definitely taking effect. Warmth is more than the usual tea by itself, probably at least partially a result of my increased body heat from the exercise. I have never exercised like this on opiates, so I'm not exactly sure how it will affect the experience, but I seem to be back on track for a standard opium buzz.

T+1:40. I feel more sedated and tired than usual, a combination of both increased opiate strength and physical fatigue. Took 1 more 10mg oxy and 50mg diphenhydramine for good measure. Going to the store to pick up something for dinner. Much like pot, opiates often give me an appetite and heightened enjoyment of foods, but without the slightly deadened taste buds from the smoke. I find myself going for or craving fast food more than I'd like. Eating is at least as enjoyable to me on opium as pot, if not more. This is especially true for more meal oriented foods, as opposed to those snacks I always end up going for when stoned.

T+4:00. Back from the store, made and ate dinner, which was delicious. I am pretty blown at the moment, but not so much that I would be unable to drive or fit in a social situation. Not too much to report except that I'm basically still peaking. Slight itching, but not too bad. To the amazement of people I know, I actually somewhat enjoy the itchies, as I find them to be a satisfying itch and encourage a tactile response from the opiates, as opposed to the kind that will drive me out of my mind such as that of DXM.

T+8:00. Decide to smoke 2 average bowls of average mids quality bud. Subjective strengths are now more or less pointless to convey as it's all basically a blur after this point. The opiates were still fairly prominant, though not as much so as a few hours ago. This will be the last entry, as it's only going down from here. (and I didn't check the time to see when the opiates were completely gone).

Using more than 5 times a week for a period of months has resulted in some minor withdrawals (your mileage may vary). I have personally taken a low dose (2-4 5-6' pods) of the tea every day for approximately 3 months and had a relatively easy time abstaining for the next couple of days. The inability to sleep and a restlessness were about all I experienced after these several months, and while I do have a constant desire to continue using the tea on a daily basis, it is nothing compared to that of veteran opiate users with established addictions.

This is, of course, based on only my 6 months of experience, so I would not necessarily consider this carte blanche to use 6 days a week for the rest of your life.

I hope that some of you find this write up informative, especially those of you who are (rightfully) gathering information before diving in head first. Poppy Tea can be a wonderful supplement to an otherwise boring day's work, and I have seen marked improvements in my social life as it makes me significantly more outgoing and social. Just don't let it get out of hand and you'll be very happy with the results.

Best of luck, and as always, be safe.

Exp Year: 2007ExpID: 67730 Gender: Male Age at time of experience: Not Given Published: Apr 27, 2012Views: Not Supported [ View PDF (to print) ] [ View LaTeX (for geeks) ] [ Swap Dark/Light ]

Poppies - Opium (43), Oxycodone (176) : Combinations (3), Preparation / Recipes (30), Retrospective / Summary (11), Various (28) -->