Parenteral poppy seed tea packs a powerful punch.

Poppy seed tea (PST) has a long history of use for its medicinal (analgesic, anti-diarrhoeal, anxiolytic) effects. It is also commonly used as a recreational drug in its oral form throughout the world, but reports of intravenous use are very rare. We present two cases of intravenously injected PST with dramatic effects in order to create awareness among health professionals of this method of drug use and its potential complications, as well as to help clinicians dealing with opiate-dependent patients to warn them of the risk.