The Painkiller You Can Grow for Free. Sold in 1890, Gone by 1939. What Happened?
California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) is the orange wildflower in the opium-poppy family that carries no morphine - only GABA-active alkaloids that ease pain, anxiety, and sleep without dependence. Parke-Davis sold it in 1890 as a soporific and analgesic. The 1910 Flexner Report and the 1939 closure of the last Eclectic medical college erased it. Health Canada now permits it as a mild sedative and chronic-pain aid.