The opium poppy – Papaver somniferum – is believed to be descended from the wild poppy – Papaver setigerum – which originally came from the Western Mediterranean. The poppy began to be cultivated agriculturally about 7500 years ago. Filan cites an archaeological dig that took place at Raunds, in Northamptonshire, England, where eight poppy seeds were uncovered and dated between 5800-5600 years ago.
The reason for cultivation is proposed to be two-fold; firstly, medicinally and, secondly, for its psychoactive properties. At some point the poppy lost its ability to self-seed and, in times of famine, was deemed not to be a useful crop. According to Filan, the poppy needed to find another use. It “had to adapt itself to meet other needs. And one of humankind’s strongest drives – stronger, in many cases than the instincts for procreation, security, or even self-preservation – is the urge to seek pleasure” (Filan 15). In the poppy’s psychoactive properties, humanity found a new role for the plant.
