I recently purchased at an estate auction an old wooden “medicine chest”, the kind where you open the lid to reveal rows of small glass bottles containing various mixtures, elixirs, concoctions, powders, etc. On the inside of the lid is a list of the contents of the bottles.
One of the bottles is labeled “Tincture of Opium” and still has some liquid (almost, some dark brown “oozing” stuff) at the bottom.
I surmise that I have in my possession opium. Needless to say I was surprised.
And no, you can’t have any. Neither will I be ingesting any to tell you whether or not it’s still viable (that’s why I’m asking here instead). I am considering: 1) keeping it if it’s no longer chemically active (because it’s definitely a “cool” conversation piece); 2) disposing of the ooze (scrape it into a plastic bag and throw out with the household garbage) and keeping the bottle.
What are the legal ramifications of this situation? Specifically, is this stuff “grandfathered”, i.e. it’s so old that it was originally legal (and thus this sample is technically “not criminalized” today, even though a sample of opium produced today is quite criminal to possess in the U.S.)? Although this is a longshot, could I be arrested/prosecuted for possessing this?
I suspect the local D.A. would yell at me and confiscate the bottle, but lacking any previous trouble with the law I probably wouldn’t be put to trial (not that I’d like to find out).
So what’s the scoop? Am I in possession of a controlled substance? The box was made in the late 1800’s, has this stuff deteriorated to the point it’s lost it’s “opiate” qualities? Is the auctioneer guilty of “distributing a controlled substance”?
And once again, no you can’t have any.