A passage from Medicinal Plants of the American Southwest:
Consider California poppy (Mexican poppy) a sub–opiate, meaning its effect is broadly opiate–like, though much weaker than medically used pharmaceuticals. Use the plant when sleep is difficult from anxiousness and physical discomfort. It is mildly lessening to both nerve centered and muscular pain.
Author, Researcher, Clinician. Latest titles: Wild Edible Plants of Oklahoma, 2nd ed., Wild Edible Plants of Arizona, 2nd ed., and Wild Edible Plants of Arkansas, 2nd. ed.