# Do people grow cocaine here in the United States **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 3, 2005, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-grow-cocaine-here-in-the-united-states/315413 "2005-08-03T13:22:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2022, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-grow-cocaine-here-in-the-united-states/315413/21 "2022-03-26T21:00:53Z")
I have the feeling this was one of the last questions **Cecil** answered: > **[Why does South America grow all the coca?](https://www.straightdope.com/21344482/why-does-south-america-grow-all-the-coca)** Someone had asked it before, of course. Might just revive this thread, let’s see what’s happened in the meantime, after 16 years. ---
**Author:** ![RedSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/67e7ee/32.png) [@RedSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSky)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2022, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-grow-cocaine-here-in-the-united-states/315413/22 "2022-03-26T21:33:12Z")
Opium poppies grow every where from the Afghanistan to the cold wet climate of Tasmania where there are large legal plantations. Offshoring their production originally gave the US some leverage in forcing other countries to accept US style drug scheduling. The potency of plants is extremely variable and yor may end up with anything from a slight buzz to overdose which is problematical if you want to grow your own. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-grow-cocaine-here-in-the-united-states/315413/23 "2022-03-27T04:20:07Z")
I posted on this 4 years ago: > [@Heroin Poppies question](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-poppies-question/820673/8): > > Since Tasmania.Aus started growing a major legal cash-crop of opium poppies (legal opiates have to come from somewhere), garden poppy seeds are no longer easily available in our shops. The USA does not like to buy legal opium from countries that have illegal opium, and as a result we have zero political tolerance for edge cases. Also, I’ve read that American florists (like Aus) no longer use poppies, or poppy seed cases, and that restriction dates, I think, from the late 20th century, not from… Original link is dead, but someone has posted the article here: [https://www.wesjones.com/pollan1.htm](https://www.wesjones.com/pollan1.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-grow-cocaine-here-in-the-united-states/315413/24 "2022-03-27T14:18:38Z")
Pollan does go on. I don’t grow poppies, but a seed catalog I get lists 9 varieties of P. somniferum. They won’t ship to WV and Canada unless you order P. paeoniflorum or P. laciniatum, which are still varieties of P. somniferum. The likelihood of getting significant narcotic content from such plants is low. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-grow-cocaine-here-in-the-united-states/315413/25 "2022-03-27T15:36:39Z")
This discussion reminds me of the fact that, a few decades ago, the Drug Enforcement Agency forced Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, to remove the poppy plants growing in their historically accurate garden. They may have been fine for a founding father, but the rest of us are just junkies and are not to be trusted. > **[The DEA Crackdown on Thomas Jefferson's Poppy Plants](https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/534703/dea-crackdown-thomas-jeffersons-poppy-plants)** > > In 1991, recreating Jefferson's legendary garden meant running afoul of federal law. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-grow-cocaine-here-in-the-united-states/315413/26 "2022-03-27T15:53:21Z")
What’s the diff between poppy seeds on a bagel and the bad kind? ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-grow-cocaine-here-in-the-united-states/315413/27 "2022-03-27T16:07:53Z")
The amount of cream cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-grow-cocaine-here-in-the-united-states/315413/28 "2022-03-27T16:26:45Z")
I think this is more of a social issue rather than a botanical or chemical one. You could grow and process cocaine in the United States. But it would involve setting up a fairly good-sized center for manufacturing illegal drugs. There are places in the world where you can do that and make arrangements so law enforcement isn’t going to interfere with you. But it would be difficult to operate a cocaine manufacturing operation in the United States without some law enforcement agency investigating. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-grow-cocaine-here-in-the-united-states/315413/29 "2022-03-27T16:30:19Z")
Nothing. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-grow-cocaine-here-in-the-united-states/315413/30 "2022-03-27T16:46:09Z")
In the older discussions on this thread it was mentioned that you need a laboratory to actually extract the cocaine. But if you have ever seen a documentary on cocaine you realize the definition of a “laboratory” gets strained quite a bit. The workers dig a shallow pit and line it with a typical blue tarp from Home Depot (deposito de casa?). The leaves are dumped in and covered with gasoline or kerosene. Workers tramp around and smush everything like an old fashioned wine festival. That’s the first stage of the “laboratory”. What - you expected food grade ethanol in glass carboys? These guys are creative. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-grow-cocaine-here-in-the-united-states/315413/31 "2022-03-27T16:50:44Z")
Home Depot: ¿Almacén para el hogar? I guess you can use the blue tarp more than once, until it is no longer blue. And the feet are clean afterwards. Just don’t smoke at work! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-grow-cocaine-here-in-the-united-states/315413.md?page=1)