Opium Poppy: Botany, Chemistry, and Pharmacology

Rating:
Summary: A Psychopharmacologist 's Opinion of Kapoor's "OPIUM POPPY"
Review: L.D. KAPOOR has written a brilliant, organized, carefully researched multidisciplinary study of the Opium Poppy,Papaver somniferum:its Botany, chemistry and pharmacology. He writes as an objective scientist. He gives us all the information, in the proper order, that we need to understand such a unfairly maligmed plant. I read a "customer review" that said there was too much info and it was too technical. It seems that reading that takes any intellectual effort is just too much for the usual reader. When writing of the world's oldest cultivar, the subject should be approached with respect. The book is organically structured:Botanical studies naturally grow into genetic & cytological expression, and then into opium as an herbal, agricultural commodity,and its relative alkaloid content analyzed. Then physiological, anatomical, & other studies are explored.
The biosynthesis & physiology of the poppy is examined without prejudice, as is the relative content of the economically valuable alkaloids are compared. Kapoor then evaluates the properties of morphine and other alkaloids that alieve chronic human pain. This book, for anyone who wants to discover the nature and goodness of a universally misunderstood plant, is essential. Written without bias or ideology, I could not recommend a modern work better suited to enlightening one of the gentle & benevolent qualities of "God's own Medicine".

Rating:
Summary: Useful With Many Shortcomings
Review: Note that this book is written for scientists. It will not appeal to readers looking for an introduction to the opium poppy, nor those who are not fairly well educated in chemistry and biology. For those looking for something "easier", I would recommend, "Opium for the Masses" or perhaps better, "Flowers in the Blood".

This book shines in its discussions of poppy horticulture and agricultural. The literature in these areas is highly contradictory and Kapoor does an excellent job synthesizing what is known. Chapter 4 (Agricultural Studies) is well worth the price of the entire book. The thorough discussion of opium poppy botany is also good. For an understanding of the entire poppy family, however, Christopher Grey-Wilson's "Poppies" is far better.

Kapoor fails in his discussions of opium alkaloid pharmacology and chemistry. These discussions are almost random in structure and are far from thorough in the research cited. Whenever an individual alkaloid is discussed (even when discussing its role in plant development), the book becomes muddy. This is not surprising, I suppose, because Kapoor is clearly most interested in the plant itself.

Too often, Kapoor does not actually synthesize the research in a particular area. Instead, he simply lists it--indicating that he is confused as to the meaning of the work. There is also little discussion of why certain research questions are of interest. Worst of all, none of his chapters have introductions or conclusions. This is true of the book itself. The first chapter is titled "Introduction", but it isn't--it is a history of the opium poppy. Then, instead of ending the book with some kind of overview, the last chapter discusses pain models with an emphasis on how morphine fits in with them. The reason that "Opium Poppy" would contain this chapter--not even written by Kapoor--is unclear. (In fairness, this last non-Kapoor chapter has an introduction and conclusion.)

Another problem that makes extracting information from the book difficult is the poor editing done by The Haworth Press. The book is riddled with typographical and grammatical errors. The section headings are a mess; the reader is best to ignore them because they cause much confusion.

"Opium Poppy" should be subtitled "Botany, Horticulture, and Agriculture". This is what the author knows and what he is interested in. When he gets too far afield from these areas, the book falls apart. However, in these three areas, the book is indispensable.

Rating:
Summary: Far too technical
Review: This is probably a wonderful book if you are seriously into pharmacology and a closet scientist on the side. If you are looking for a book that will tell you how to grow or harvest opium keep looking. If on the other hand you like to look at drawings of the DNA structures of the individual drug isotopes found in opium(and believe me there are alot!) then buy it.