The Opium Poppy: The Forbidden Crop

Although the cultivation of the opium poppy and the use of its narcotic derivatives have been an integral part of many cultures throughout history, it is only in recent years that the impact of the opium trade has aroused great interest in the United States. The opium trade involves two geographical systems. First, there is the legal trade with the opium poppy being cultivated for the products morphine and codeine which serve the world's medical needs. Second is the illegal opium trade which involves the production and export of opium for the heroin and opium markets of the world. Each system lends itself well to geographical analysis and this paper concentrates on the changing spatial patterns of the opium trade in the last two decades.