Turning Point’s services in Leicester are seeing an increase in the number of clients – predominately men from the Punjabi Sikh community – struggling with addiction to poppy seeds.
In October, we delivered a national poppy seeds training session attended by GPs specialist doctors, prescribers, peer support workers, team leaders and recovery workers. The feedback ranged from people admitting they’d never heard of addiction to poppy seeds, to others saying they’d seen some clients but their knowledge was limited. Our aim was to raise awareness of the issue, how to engage with clients, and the treatment we provide.
Poppy seeds come from the plant that produces opium, but possess no opium content themselves. Instead, the opium alkaloids are found in the poppy latex, which is a milky white fluid that exudes from the pod when it’s cut. During harvesting and processing, however, the seeds can become coated with the opium fluid.
Washed and processed poppy seeds are used in pastries, cakes, porridge and other foods. People also take poppy seeds by mouth for asthma and other conditions, while poppy seed oil is used in manufacturing to make soap, paint and varnish. Depending on the methods of harvesting and geographical origin of the plant, unwashed poppy seeds may have higher amounts of opium alkaloids such as morphine, codeine and thebaine on their seed coats compared to washed poppy seeds. Farmers who wish to increase the opium alkaloid content on the poppy seed make cuts in the opium pods before they ripen, which allows the latex to seep onto the seeds.
In fact, consuming certain poppy seed food products can lead to a positive urine test result for opiates – as little as one bagel or muffin can affect results for up to 60 hours – and when someone discontinues the regular use of unwashed poppy seeds, it can produce the same symptoms as withdrawing from any other opiate.
Unwashed poppy seeds are usually crushed and ground down to make into tea – or the pods are put directly into the tea – and in the US deaths associated with use of unwashed poppy seed tea have been reported in the scientific literature.
In the Punjabi community in India – and here in Leicester – it’s socially acceptable to drink poppy seed tea. We’ve been to community events in places like Gurdwaras where older Punjabi men laugh it off and say it’s just ‘doda’ or ‘afeem’ – the Punjabi words for poppy seeds. Even younger people at the gym will mention that their friends use it. It’s so commonly used that it’s not even considered a drug, rather something that helps with anxiety and stress, and we also see it used by builders who say it helps them work harder.
However, due to changes in availability and cost over recent years, it’s become a bigger problem. In the past you could buy it very cheaply, but prices have now tripled and it’s having an impact on families. While some people may have it as a one-off energy booster – like a cup of coffee – when it begins to affect someone’s day-to-day life is when they need help. We want to make sure people understand the addictive nature of poppy seeds and know that there is support available.
When opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan plunged by an estimated 95 per cent following the Taliban’s 2022 ban it led to a drastic drop in the availability of heroin alongside an increased demand for other drugs, including poppy seeds. Unwashed poppy seeds are widely available, often in large quantities, and sold in retail outlets across Leicester. They are also easy to buy online.
Local shops sell ground poppy seeds in containers for around £20-£30, but some clients have told us the cost has increased to £70-£100 in some shops. As a result, we’ve seen a lot more people come to us with addiction issues as it’s costing them hundreds of pounds a week and affecting their family lives.
We’re also seeing the powder form of the drug that’s made from the milky latex of the poppy being sold under the counter. Not only is this illegal, it is significantly more potent than poppy seeds and more likely to be cut with other substances. We’re hearing that batch strength varies from shop to shop, with clients telling us products from some shops leave them with stronger after-effects such as drowsiness and headaches, and the presence of nitazenes in the drug supply is an increasing concern.
While we suspect the ground forms of both the poppy seeds and the milky latex are sometimes adulterated with paracetamol or sleeping tablets, we don’t know if synthetic opioids are ever present. We advise the people we support to buy poppy pods and grind them themselves, to ensure it hasn’t been mixed with any other substance.
Research into the ground poppy seed supply is needed to understand exactly what is being put into this commonly available substance, so we can offer informed harm-reduction advice to the public.
Poppy seeds can be just as addictive as any other opiate, and physical and psychological dependence can develop quickly. We prescribe the same for poppy seeds as we would for somebody using heroin – either buprenorphine or methadone.
Buprenorphine has been well tolerated and serves as an effective treatment option for the clients we’ve worked with – it also offers flexibility in dose reduction, with 0.4 mg increments supporting a structured detoxification process. In our experience of working with clients prescribed methadone, however, we’ve found that reducing poppy seed use can be particularly challenging. Many struggle to decrease their reliance on poppy seeds while on methadone, and in some cases their poppy seed use actually increases alongside their methadone intake. This pattern can create a cycle of dependence that becomes difficult to break, and clients have also frequently reported that methadone makes them feel drowsy and sluggish, which leads them to seek additional stimulation – including continued or increased use of poppy seeds.
All the clients we’ve supported for addiction to poppy seeds have so far been men. We do know that women also use it, but the stigma and shame of women engaging in treatment services – especially in the south Asian community – is a significant barrier.
There’s a big drinking culture within the Punjabi Sikh community. However, baptised Sikhs are prohibited from consuming alcohol or any drugs, making it a taboo subject. This presents a major challenge – it’s the reason why people are reluctant to talk about the issue of poppy seeds publicly, or seek support from recovery services.
Dilesh Popat is national diverse communities lead and Sadaf Akhtar is advanced practitioner diverse communities at Turning Point
Harminder (not his real name) is a builder based in Leicester. He started using poppy seeds in Punjab, where he said everyone uses it even though it’s considered shameful in the Sikh community to use drugs. His usage escalated when he moved to the UK five years ago – he said it was so easily available that he used to buy the seeds from Asian florists. When he first started taking poppy seeds, he felt powerful and it would give him the strength to get through the day’s work. After a while, however, it started having less of an effect, which led to him increasing the amount he took on a daily basis. A friend recommended him to Turning Point, where he was prescribed buprenorphine and given regular support over the phone and in person to slowly reduce his usage. He’s now been abstinent for almost 18 months. Harminder says he knows many colleagues and members of his community who are struggling with poppy seeds. He believes it should be given the same priority as heroin when it comes to raising awareness of its dangers and the support available.HARMINDER’S STORY
He was spending around £70 a week on poppy seeds and it started impacting his family and work life. He would struggle to wake up in the morning to go to work, and was constantly having to find ways to hide his use from his wife.