# Opium poppies on Ebay? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 9, 2009, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opium-poppies-on-ebay/499190 "2009-06-09T06:13:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opium-poppies-on-ebay/499190/1 "2009-06-09T06:13:28Z")
Just read this article: [Content Mania!](http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/currents/Content?oid=oid:67441) . I thought maybe it was from some time ago and things have changed, but poppy pods are still overflowing on Ebay. Googling some more leads to revelations such as this: > [@](#): > > I find, at really high dose, pod tea definitely rivals conventional pain pills. > > While subtle at the lower dose range, that is far from the high dose experience. > > At high doses, you get your standard oral morphine high, with the addition of all the other poppy alkaloids, which give the whole experience more of a multifaceted feel…more depth…a different sort of blissful euphoria that is more sedating and heavy feeling. > > Also, it will last for fucking ever. Like, easily feeling it the next day…20+ hours and then another 5 or so hour afterglow. > > So, I say, it’s well worth it. A bit more expensive than a convention pill(s) or a bag of smack, but fun in its own right or great in a pinch. How is this legal?! ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opium-poppies-on-ebay/499190/2 "2009-06-09T06:19:07Z")
Opium poppy seeds are perfectly legal in the US and Canada. That’s because they don’t contain any of the alkaloids present in the full-grown plant. They even use them on bagels! Edit: Just noticed that the ad says pods, not sure if that’s the same thing. If it isn’t, ignore me! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opium-poppies-on-ebay/499190/3 "2009-06-09T06:25:27Z")
Here’s [Erowid](http://www.erowid.org/plants/poppy/poppy_info2.shtml). Apparently you can get high on the pods but they are just full of seeds so legal. No way would they have the blast of the full-grown flower. > [@](#): > > Dried Papaver somniferum heads are sold around the world, despite Prohibitionist drug laws. In the United States and Canada, the dried pods are sold as flower arrangement art pieces and in craft stores. Opium poppies are also commonly grown around the United States as ornamentals, although in the last 10 years, the DEA has begun to harass flower vendors. In the late 1990s, stores in large cities in the United States would often sell 10-20 dried poppy pods for 10-20 USD. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opium-poppies-on-ebay/499190/4 "2009-06-09T07:51:49Z")
Spam reported ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opium-poppies-on-ebay/499190/5 "2009-06-09T15:00:58Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Spam reported You just keep staring at your gps. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opium-poppies-on-ebay/499190/6 "2009-06-09T15:33:46Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Spam reported Ok, you got me. This message was brought to you by the Pod Growers of America. The Pod Growers of America is an industry body representing all pod growers and dealers (except those who aren’t on Ebay). The Pod Growers of America is also endutied to regularly check up on the legal status of their industry by visiting message boards and interjecting, “How is this legal?!” Finally, the Pod Growers of America would like to remind you that pods are the other white milk. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opium-poppies-on-ebay/499190/7 "2009-06-09T15:41:18Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Spam reported I must have missed something here. How is this spam? Or am I being whooshed? ---
**Author:** ![PetW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@PetW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PetW)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opium-poppies-on-ebay/499190/8 "2009-06-09T16:41:19Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Apparently you can get high on the pods but they are just full of seeds so legal. Hmm, that doesn’t make sense. Opium extracts, poppies, etc is [Schedule II](http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/scheduling.html) (illegal). But if there’s no opium, I don’t see how you would get high. Are these being sold so that you can grow poppies? ---
**Author:** ![Mojo\_Pin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mojo\_Pin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo_Pin)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opium-poppies-on-ebay/499190/9 "2009-06-09T16:48:33Z")
No they’re dried pods of the plants, sold for ‘flower arrangement’. Never tried it, but I’ve certainly heard stories. ---
**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:** [June 9, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opium-poppies-on-ebay/499190/10 "2009-06-09T16:48:39Z")
There was a very complete article on this phenomenon around 10 years ago, in Atlantic Monthly (I think). The upshot is: You can grow opium poppies, as long as you don’t know that you can make opium from them. If you grow them, and you DO know that they can be used to make opium, you can be arrested on narcotics laws. I kid you not. (The article had a big disclaimer at the beginning saying that if you grow these poppies, you probably shouldn’t read the rest of the article, if you are the paranoid type) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opium-poppies-on-ebay/499190/11 "2009-06-09T18:10:24Z")
It was an article by Michael Pollan in the April 1997 issue of Harpers. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opium-poppies-on-ebay/499190/12 "2009-06-09T18:20:29Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > It was an article by Michael Pollan in the April 1997 issue of Harpers. And here’s the link: [http://www.harpers.org/archive/1997/04/0010134](http://www.harpers.org/archive/1997/04/0010134) Edit: Whoops, it only works if you’re a paid subscriber. I can only imagine what this man spends 20 pages discussing. ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opium-poppies-on-ebay/499190/13 "2009-06-09T18:39:53Z")
One of the problems one could have growing opium poppies is that local law enforcement might use this as an excuse to confiscate other things. The case I was familiar with was where a guy had some opium poppies growing in a pot on his deck. A neighbor, annoyed about something, reported him to the local sheriff as growing drugs. The sheriff raided the place and absconded with his antique gun collection because they were “part and parcel” of the illegal drug operation. The last I heard of it the poppies had been destroyed, the drug case had been dropped, and the chap was in court attempting to get his guns back. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opium-poppies-on-ebay/499190/14 "2009-06-09T19:20:20Z")
> [@PetW](#): > > Hmm, that doesn’t make sense. Opium extracts, poppies, etc is [Schedule II](http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/scheduling.html) (illegal). But if there’s no opium, I don’t see how you would get high. > Are these being sold so that you can grow poppies? It didn’t make much sense to me either. 🙂 But the truth is it seems that no, you can’t get high on the seeds, but yes, you can! > [@](#): > > The short answer is No. Poppy seeds themselves are inert, and contain no alkaloids. > > The long answer on the other hand, is well… kind of. It is possible for sap to “leak” on to the seeds from inside the seed pod, coating them with miniscule amounts of alkaloids. This is documented in the many cases of positive drug tests resulting from the consumption of poppy seed food products. Dried seed pods would obviously contain no sap (or minuscule amounts) and be useless. Fresh seed pods, OTOH, would have sap as well as seeds in them and the sap would make them illegal. [Link](http://www.poppies.org/faq/other-related-questions/can-i-get-high-off-poppy-seeds/) ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opium-poppies-on-ebay/499190/15 "2009-06-09T19:32:03Z")
This thread has convinced me to start growing poppies. They are a beautiful flower, too. I’m also reminded of the Cadfael novels by Ellis Peters. One of brother Cafaels medieval herb treatments is an infusion of poppy heads in wine, used as a pain reliever and sleep inducer. Besides, there are so many things one could use to get high, if you knew what you were doing. Morning glory seeds, for instance. Datura. Mushrooms. PS I also don’t see the spam. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opium-poppies-on-ebay/499190/16 "2009-06-09T21:43:01Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Dried seed pods would obviously contain no sap (or minuscule amounts) and be useless. Fresh seed pods, OTOH, would have sap as well as seeds in them and the sap would make them illegal. > [Link](http://www.poppies.org/faq/other-related-questions/can-i-get-high-off-poppy-seeds/) Apparently the sap doesn’t go anywhere. The water leaves, but that’s added back in with the tea-making process. > [@Maastricht](#): > > Besides, there are so many things one could use to get high, if you knew what you were doing. Morning glory seeds, for instance. Datura. Mushrooms. There is a big difference between things like morning glory, nutmeg, and some legal species of mushrooms and opium poppies. Hallucinogens aren’t real drugs. They make you crazy for a bit, which can be fun if you’re really excited about the prospect, but they don’t give you pleasure in and of themselves and are not addictive. Meanwhile, opium poppies are the definition of narcotics and very addictive. This makes it all the more curious that not only is the plant allowed to grow in our gardens, but that its pods are freely traded over _Ebay_. (Which bans plenty of legal things.) I mean I’m sure they’re not the most amazing of opiates. They are described as at the level of prescription painkillers, at best, and historically people stopped messing with them as soon as morphine and heroin came on the scene. But still. This seems to be the most legit legal high, bar none. And strangest thing is that I’ve never heard of it till now. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opium-poppies-on-ebay/499190/17 "2009-06-10T07:21:28Z")
[Cecil speaks](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1112/will-poppy-seed-bagels-cause-you-to-fail-a-drug-test) (and mentions Michael Pollan). ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opium-poppies-on-ebay/499190/18 "2009-06-10T07:32:11Z")
actually, opium poppy tea is incredibly strong and the effects last well over a day. There’s plenty of morphine in those little o’s 🙂 ---
**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:** [June 10, 2009, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opium-poppies-on-ebay/499190/19 "2009-06-10T12:54:04Z")
To help clarify the legal situation - buying viable poppy seeds is legal in the U.S., though some flower seed houses won’t sell them. Growing P. somniferum, even the ornamental types is a murkier situation, and can get you busted in some jurisdictions (authorities have even confiscated plants grown by little old ladies who have no interest in getting high). “Not knowing” the law (as stupid as it may be - having a few plants of the ornamental versions will not yield enough opium for any kind of drug use) is not going to spare you potential consequences. The people who traffic in pods on Ebay are probably going to bring more heat on gardeners who just want to grow the fantastic flowers. Dumbasses. ---
**Author:** ![PetW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@PetW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PetW)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opium-poppies-on-ebay/499190/20 "2009-06-10T22:32:40Z")
> [@Alex\_Dubinsky](#): > > But still. This seems to be the most legit legal high, bar none. And strangest thing is that I’ve never heard of it till now. I still don’t see how it can be legal. It seems pretty clear that opium is a controlled substance. If the poppy pods can make you high, I’m assuming it can only be from opium. Therefore, the pods must be illegal. Could Ebay just be this stupid? Or are people just getting high off a placebo/ritual magic effect? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opium-poppies-on-ebay/499190.md?page=2)