Opium is grown in the winter season in the desert state. In fact, cultivation can be done only in Chittorgarh and Pratapgarh districts in Rajasthan. The government gives license for its cultivation. White flowers look very beautiful on opium plants.
After the doda is cooked, it is cut and the milk coming out of it is collected and this milk makes opium. A very good smell comes from around the opium fields.
Opium poppy or papaver somniferum, a medicinal herb, produces alkaloids such as morphine and codeine, and is best known as a pain reliever in terms of modern medicine. It is used for a range of treatments including the post-operative pain management and palliative care for terminal cancer patients to treating accident-related trauma and chronic pain syndromes.
However, large consignments of opium that includes its bulbous flowers, stems and raisins—all of these are used in making narcotics like charas and heroin.
In India, opium cultivation is prohibited under Section 8 of the NDPS Act, 1985, except under a licence issued by the Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN) under Rule 8 of the NDPS Rules, 1985.