Can Opium* poppy flowers be bought or found anywhere in the U.S. ? Why or why not.
*DEA agents need not reply
I doubt you would find Opium Poppies (Papaver somniferum)in a florists shop. However, sometimes gardeners get seeds that they didnt know were illegal and grow them. I remember locally a man was growing them in his yard. He didnt know they were opium poppies but thought they were just a regular kind of poppy. Local authorities found the plants and confiscated them. He didnt get in trouble because he wasnt found to be scratching the pods for sap, so they just took the plants. However, if someone is found to be trying to extract the sap, you can get into trouble for it. Although, i hear you can get opium from the common Oriental Poppy (Papaver orientale). I also hear that opium poppies are the source of seeds for poppy seeds for baking.
A friend of mine’s mother was in a garden club and she got hold of what were allegedly
Opium Poppy seeds. The respectable ladies who had them considered it very hush-hush, even though their only interest in them was for ornamental purposes. I don’t know if any were ever successfully grown. This was in the 1970’s in Chattanooga, TN. I’m pretty sure the opium I later smoked was imported, but who knows? Maybe those old gals had something going on…
[[Can Opium* poppy flowers be bought or found anywhere in the U.S. ? Why or why not.]] Ivana
and …
[[I doubt you would find Opium Poppies (Papaver somniferum)in a florists shop. However, sometimes gardeners get seeds that they didnt know were illegal and grow them.]] Doobious
The horrible <g> truth is that basically ALL poppies are “opium” poppies. As some old fart used to say, I kid you not.
[[ I remember locally a man was growing them in his yard. He didnt know they were opium poppies but thought they were just a regular kind of poppy. Local authorities found the plants and confiscated them. He didnt get in trouble because he wasnt found to be scratching the pods for sap, so they just took the plants. However, if someone is found to be trying to extract the sap, you can get into trouble for it. ]]
The legal distinction appears to be either what you intend to do with them (the generous view), or simply your knowledge that they are indeed “opium” poppies (seemingly the DEA view). And now I’ve gone and told you all. <g>
An outstanding article on the topic appeared in Harpers a couple of years ago (cover story, too).
Just the other day I was surfing in Carmel, California, near where Clint lives was a new house being put in. IN the yard were those opium flowers. I was going to pick some. Occassionally you can find them around here. I don’t think it’s hot enough to produce a lot of sap.
A few years back I found some growing in my psychologists yard. I showed her and she picked one of the buds up, opened it a little and tasted it. Boy, she is one cool psychologist.
'Tis true Big Iron. I think the DEA just targets opium poppies because these are the classical source of opium. ANY poppy has opiates (and like i said, some opium manufacturers will use oriental poppies). I also have some seeds for these plants. They may be too old to be viable. So i guess if i were to grow them (Which i will not because theres no place for them in my garden =)), then if the DEA found them, i could just say i didn’t know they were Opium Poppies and not get in trouble? :). OH yeah i also have a plant catalog somewhere in the house that sells opium poppy seeds.
I also remember going up to Fremont Peak with my co-workers as part of a trip (the mountain is by the small town of San Juan Bautista) We were passing by an area that had been burned to clear brush, and all over the hillside were these poppies. Our work leader wouldnt tell us what kind of poppy they were (i suppose he thought they were opium poppies). I dont think they were opium poppies, but who knows, maybe im wrong.
poppies *poppies poppies *
The California state flower has traces of opium in it. Believe it or not.