Poppy seed ingestion: the Oregon perspective

Numerous articles have been published regarding the positive morphine and codeine urinalysis results from the ingestion of poppy seeds. Oregon's perspective towards ingestion of controlled substances focuses around driving under impaired conditions. To determine the influence of the residual opium on poppy seeds to impairment, seven volunteers each ingested 25 grams of poppy seeds baked into bundt cakes. Urine samples were screened by EMIT using 300 ng/ml cutoff levels. All of the urine specimens were found to be opiate positive shortly after consuming the cake; however, after administering a series of standardized drug recognition evaluation tests, no subjects were found to exhibit symptoms of opiate impairment.