The opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) was known to humans before the time of the Greeks. In many cultures the plant has been considered an important medicine, used to treat pain and dysentery. The time and place of the origin of the opium poppy is a mystery. It probably arose in central Europe during the late Bronze Age and was taken southward into the Mediterranean region. It then spread eastward into the Orient, likely transported by Arab traders in the seventh century.

The opium poppy has been widely grown in southeast Asia, as well as in Afghanistan and Turkey. One of the most infamous areas of the world for opium poppies is the Golden Triangle, the region in southeast Asia where Burma, Laos, and Thailand meet. The poppy grows best at about 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) elevation. The fields are cleared by the slash- and-burn technique, in which the...