The notoriety of Papaver somniferum, the “sleep-inducing poppy,” is only partly to do with its outlaw family. Opium poppies are grown for their edible seeds and for pharmaceutical uses. The type that ...

Following a ban on poppy cultivation in Afghanistan imposed by the de facto authorities, the Taliban, in April 2022, opium production plunged by an estimated 95 percent by 2023 from 6,200 tons in 2022 ...