# Heroin Poppies question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 3, 2018, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-poppies-question/820673 "2018-09-03T05:06:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-poppies-question/820673/1 "2018-09-03T05:06:13Z")
Is it legal to grow Poppies, for their beauty - not their drug properties, in the US? ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-poppies-question/820673/2 "2018-09-03T05:20:26Z")
[Wiki say maybe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papaver_somniferum) > [@](#): > > As the opium poppy is legal for culinary or esthetic reasons, poppies were once grown as a cash crop by farmers in California. The law of poppy cultivation in the United States is somewhat ambiguous.[32] The reason for the ambiguity is because the Opium Poppy Control Act of 1942 (now repealed). . . > > Today, this area of law has remained vague and remains somewhat controversial in the United States.[37] The Opium Poppy Control Act of 1942 was repealed on 27 October 1970.[38][39] ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-poppies-question/820673/3 "2018-09-03T06:38:43Z")
For all practical purposes, [yes](https://www.inverse.com/article/19218-opium-poppies-legal-drugs-heroin). > [@](#): > > Growing them as food or to accentuate your home garden remains technically legal because the laws were never really resolved. The simplest strategy to ban opium and all of its derivatives would have been to ban Americans from growing poppies altogether — regardless of whether they were pipe or pastry bound — and that’s exactly what the Opium Poppy Control Act attempted to enforce in 1942. But it didn’t exactly work: Farmers that grew poppy seeds as food, many of them in California, objected to the act. Widespread ire led to a clusterfuck of protests now referred to as the “Poppy Rebellion.” Officials were forced to issue state-specific permits to farmers growing the seeds as food crops until, finally, after plenty of pushback from cultivators, the act was repealed in 1970. The distinction between its legality as a drug and as either a culinary or aesthetic garnish has remained ¯\_(ツ)\_/¯ ever since. > > Officially, it remains illegal to grow opium poppies for drug use, but it’s generally accepted that police officials around the country will turn a blind eye if they happen to see a small clutch of the scarlet blooms adorning your backyard or pantry. You can buy poppy seed packets at most garden centers. A I understand it, it takes a LOT of poppies to produce a significant amount of opium, and it’s quite labor-intensive. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-poppies-question/820673/4 "2018-09-03T10:34:15Z")
The DEA does not want you to grow Drugs > [@](#): > > Drugs > How the DEA Scrubbed Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello Poppy Garden from Public Memory > > Jefferson had planted opium poppies in his medicinal garden, and opium poppies are now deemed illegal. Now, the trouble was the folks at the Monticello Foundation, which preserves and maintains the historic site, were discovered flagrantly continuing Jefferson’s crimes. The agents were blunt: The poppies had to be immediately uprooted and destroyed or else they were going to start making arrests, and Monticello Foundation personnel would perhaps face lengthy stretches in prison. > [https://www.alternet.org/story/145872/how\_the\_dea\_scrubbed\_thomas\_jefferson’s\_monticello\_poppy\_garden\_from\_public\_memory](https://www.alternet.org/story/145872/how_the_dea_scrubbed_thomas_jefferson%27s_monticello_poppy_garden_from_public_memory) ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-poppies-question/820673/5 "2018-09-03T12:46:26Z")
Are there non-opium poppies? I thought they all were potentially opium poppies. There are poppies in the wildflower seed mix my city spreads on the medians each spring. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-poppies-question/820673/6 "2018-09-03T13:06:33Z")
From Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > Papaver rhoeas (common names include common poppy,[3] corn poppy, corn rose, field poppy, Flanders poppy or red poppy) is an annual herbaceous species of flowering plant in the poppy family, Papaveraceae. This poppy is notable as an agricultural weed (hence the common names including “corn” and “field”) and after World War I as a symbol of dead soldiers. > > Before the advent of herbicides, P. rhoeas sometimes was abundant in agricultural fields. Although the corn poppy (and its cultivars such as the Shirley poppy) and the California poppy are widely grown in gardens We see whole fields of them over here in the Spring. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-poppies-question/820673/7 "2018-09-03T14:43:53Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > Are there non-opium poppies? I thought they all were potentially opium poppies. > > There are poppies in the wildflower seed mix my city spreads on the medians each spring. There are many species of poppy, in eleven genera, according to wiki: > **[Poppy | Description](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poppy#Description)** > > Poppies are herbaceous annual, biennial or short-lived perennial plants. Some species are monocarpic, dying after flowering. Poppies can be over a metre tall with flowers up to 15 centimetres across. Flowers of species (not cultivars) have 4 or 6 petals, many stamens forming a conspicuous whorl in the center of the flower and an ovary of from 2 to many fused carpels. The petals are showy, may be of almost any colour and some have markings. The petals are crumpled in the bud and as blooming finish... The vast majority of those do not contain opium, at least not in any appreciable amount. Most sources mention that opium comes from the single species Papaver somniferum. I’m not going to bet that there aren’t some others, but anyway, the red “Remembrance Day” and the orange California poppy, for instance don’t contain opium in any significant quantity. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-poppies-question/820673/8 "2018-09-03T21:28:25Z")
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 the earlier disputes. I’ve looked, but can’t find any references. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2018, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-poppies-question/820673/9 "2018-09-03T21:52:53Z")
[Great article (by Michale Pollan, no less) in the Atlantic, from 1997.](https://michaelpollan.com/articles-archive/opium-made-easy/) If you ever want to “legally” grow opium poppies, the author’s advice is to **not** read the article. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2018, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-poppies-question/820673/10 "2018-09-03T22:26:15Z")
You can buy Papaver somniferum hybrids from a number of ornamental seed sources (some will just list the hybrid name and omit the fact that it’s P. somniferum). Curiously, at least a couple firms say they can’t ship such seeds to West Virginia ([this source](https://www.selectseeds.com/Search/papaver.aspx) says shipping is unavailable to WV and Canada). I’ve never seen the straight species P. somniferum offered anywhere. Even with strains bred for maximal opioid content I suspect you’d need to harvest a sizable field in order to process enough for use. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-poppies-question/820673/11 "2018-09-03T23:19:46Z")
The most commonly grown species of garden plants known as “poppies” are “Oriental Poppy” Papaver orientale “California Poppy” Escholtzia californica “Corn Poppy” or “Flanders Field Poppy” Papaver rhoes “Breadseed Poppy” or “Opium Poppy” Papaver somniferum All of these are readily available in a multiplicity of cultivars from retail seed companies in the US. The common names are the ones used by flower seed companies. I’ve grown Opium Poppies. They are big flashy easy flowers. Generally flower seed companies don’t emphasize correct botanical nomenclature since most gardeners don’t care about that, but they are called Opium Poppies straight out. Note that California Poppies are not even in the same genus as Opium Poppies. There are many other garden plants called poppies (examples Matilija Poppy, Welsh Poppy) which are even more distantly related. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-poppies-question/820673/12 "2018-09-04T00:00:34Z")
I grew something sold as Oriental poppy. Looking at Google images, it might have been open poppy. It was easy to grow with gorgeous large flowers, whatever it was. ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-poppies-question/820673/13 "2018-09-04T04:20:37Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > [Great article (by Michale Pollan, no less) in the Atlantic, from 1997.](https://michaelpollan.com/articles-archive/opium-made-easy/) > > If you ever want to “legally” grow opium poppies, the author’s advice is to **not** read the article. Good read. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-poppies-question/820673/14 "2018-09-05T10:29:28Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > [Great article (by Michale Pollan, no less) in the Atlantic, from 1997.](https://michaelpollan.com/articles-archive/opium-made-easy/) > > If you ever want to “legally” grow opium poppies, the author’s advice is to **not** read the article. I second steatopygia. Cracking read. Must investigate the author. j ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-poppies-question/820673/15 "2018-09-05T12:02:03Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I grew something sold as Oriental poppy. Looking at Google images, it might have been open poppy. It was easy to grow with gorgeous large flowers, whatever it was. No, different species.Same genus. They are both showy. ---
**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:** [September 5, 2018, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-poppies-question/820673/16 "2018-09-05T13:01:07Z")
Many years ago I visited England on vacation and went to the Chelsea Flower Show. I picked up a few packets of flower seed, among them an ornamental variety of Papaver somniferum. When it came time to go home, I decided to avoid any possible hassle with customs by dumping the poppy seed into another, differently labeled seed packet. Naturally that mixed seed packet drew no attention whatsoever from the agent, who instead gave me the fisheye about another packet of seed. [“Lupines?”](https://www.burpee.com/perennials/lupine/lupine-russell-hybrid-mixed-colors-46383A.html) he said, doubtfully. :smack: ---
**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:** [September 5, 2018, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-poppies-question/820673/17 "2018-09-05T18:46:14Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > [Great article (by Michale Pollan, no less) in the Atlantic, from 1997.](https://michaelpollan.com/articles-archive/opium-made-easy/) > > If you ever want to “legally” grow opium poppies, the author’s advice is to **not** read the article. Correction (this being GQ, and all): First of all the author is [Michael Pollan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Pollan) (not Michale). Secondly, the magazine was Harpers, not The Atlantic Monthly (which is strange, because I don’t remember ever having a subscription to Harpers). I note, from the Wikipedia entry, that this was his first published essay. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-poppies-question/820673/18 "2018-09-05T19:23:36Z")
So the poppy seeds I eat on my bagel or in my pastry are from the opiate-producing poppy? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-poppies-question/820673/19 "2018-09-05T19:55:25Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > So the poppy seeds I eat on my bagel or in my pastry are from the opiate-producing poppy? Yup. Papaver somniferum is the Opium Poppy, and also the Breadseed Poppy ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-poppies-question/820673/20 "2018-09-05T20:45:16Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > … > Naturally that mixed seed packet drew no attention whatsoever from the agent, who instead gave me the fisheye about another packet of seed. [“Lupines?”](https://www.burpee.com/perennials/lupine/lupine-russell-hybrid-mixed-colors-46383A.html) he said, doubtfully. :smack: _“I happen to know this is the Lupine Express…”_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroin-poppies-question/820673.md?page=2)