Opium

Opium (poppy tears, lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum). Opium latex contains approximately 12% of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which is processed chemically to produce heroin and other synthetic opioids for medicinal use and for the illegal drug trade. The latex also contains the closely related opiates codeine and thebaine and non-analgesic alkaloids such as papaverine and noscapine. The traditional, labor-intensive method of obtaining the latex is to scratch ("score") the immature seed pods (fruits) by hand; the latex leaks out and dries to a sticky yellowish residue that is later scraped off, and dehydrated. The word "meconium" (derived from the Greek for "opium-like", but now used to refer to infant stools) historically referred to related, weaker preparations made from other parts of the opium poppy or different species of poppies.

The production of opium itself has not changed since ancient times. Through selective breeding of the Papaver somniferum plant, the content of the phenanthrene alkaloids morphine, codeine, and to a lesser extent thebaine, has been greatly increased. In modern times, much of the thebaine, which often serves as the raw material for the synthesis for hydrocodone, hydromorphone, and other semisynthetic opiates, originates from extracting Papaver orientale or Papaver bracteatum.

Opium (disambiguation)

Opium is a plant latex that is a source of narcotic analgesic drugs

Opium may also refer to:

Places

Afyonkarahisar, Turkish city formerly known as Afyon (Opium)

Biology

Opium poppy, the plant from which opium is obtained

Brands

Opium (perfume)

Arts, entertainment, and media

Film

Opium, a 1919 German film

Opium: Diary of a Madwoman (2007), a Hungarian film.

Music

Albums

Opium (KMFDM album), 1984

Opium (Matt Berry album), 2008

Opium, 1995 album by Russian rock band Agatha Christie

Songs

"Opium" (Moonspell song), 1996

"Opium" (Serebro song), 2008

"Opium", a song by Marcy Playground on their 1997 self-titled album

"Opium", a song by moe. on their 2001 album Dither

Literature

Fictional locations

Opium, a fictional country situated between Aztlán, Mexico and the United States in Nancy Farmer's novel The House of the Scorpion (2002)

Works

Opium, graphic novel by the Spanish comic book artist Daniel Torres

"Opium", a 1980 short story by Harlan Ellison

Opium (Serebro song)

Опиум (Opioom (or Opium in English)) is the third released single by Russian girl band Serebro. Given to its order of release, the song is nicknamed "Song #3" after its predecessors "Song #1" and "Song #2" (Дыши). This is the fourth song to be made public from Serebro's upcoming album after "What's Your Problem?" was performed at the RMA on 4 October 2007.

Debut

On 13 March 2008 Serebro announced on their official website that they will be releasing their third (official) single "Опиум". The site says that the song premiered on a Russian morning radio show 'BrigadaU' on Europa Plus radio and that until 17 March Europa Plus had exclusive rights to play the song.

The song Опиум is available to download for free (as are other serebro songs) on the official Serebro website.

On 2 May 2008 Serebro announced on their official website that the new music video of Opium will debut on MUV-TV, 7 May 2008. They also mention that this date is the day after their producer's (Maxim Fadeev) birthday.

KMFDM

KMFDM (from Kein Mitleid Für Die Mehrheit [sic], translated by the band as "no pity for the majority" [sic]) is an industrial band led by German multi-instrumentalist Sascha Konietzko, who founded the group in 1984 as a performance art project. KMFDM has released nineteen studio albums and two dozen singles, with sales of more than two million records worldwide.

The band has undergone many line-up changes and featured dozens of guest musicians. Its earliest incarnation included German drummer En Esch and British vocalist Raymond Watts, the latter of whom left and rejoined the group several times over its history. German guitarist Günter Schulz joined in 1990; both he and Esch continued with the band until KMFDM broke up in 1999. Konietzko resurrected KMFDM in 2002 (Esch and Schulz declined to rejoin), and by 2005 he had assembled a consistent line-up that included American singer Lucia Cifarelli, British guitarists Jules Hodgson and Steve White, and British drummer Andy Selway.

Critics consider KMFDM to be one of the first bands to bring industrial music to mainstream audiences, though Konietzko refers to the band's music as "The Ultra-Heavy Beat". The band incorporates heavy metal guitar riffs, electronic music, samples, and both male and female vocals in its music, which encompasses a variety of styles. KMFDM normally tours at least once after every major release, and band members are known for their accessibility to and interaction with fans, both online and at concerts. Members, singly or working with each other and others, have recorded under many other names, primarily Watts' Pig in 1988, Konietzko's Excessive Force in 1991, and Esch and Schulz's Slick Idiot in 2001.