posted on October 14, 2000 06:01:09 PM new
You can buy Opium Poppy seeds in stores and through mail order catalogs so I don't see why you wouldn't be able to buy them on eBay. I think those are the Poppies whose seeds are used for baking.
posted on October 14, 2000 06:05:35 PM new
Opium poppies are actually a very popular ornamental flower. Possessing the seeds, and even growing the plants, is not illegal unless you intend to use them to produce drugs.
An interesting note, though, is that depending on the auction wording, it's possible that the auction itself could be used to show the individual's intent.
With marijuana, simply possessing the seeds is actually not illegal. But, since there is no legal legitimate use for viable seeds, just possessing the seeds can be considered "intent to cultivate" which is very illegal.
However, it is legal to possess and sell sterile marijuana seeds, but the are usually referred to as hemp seeds. In fact, many bird seed mixes contain hemp seeds. They are also used in various food products.
[ edited by amalgamated2000 on Oct 14, 2000 06:06 PM ]
posted on October 14, 2000 06:42:06 PM new
montechristo -
" I just did a search on "opium poppy", and there are quite a few folks selling seeds.
I have been told that these can be grown to make home-made Heroin. "
If you had several ACRES of poppies of the right strain (not all of the seeds are from the high-yield variety, those are carefully bred and expensive) and knew when and how to harvest them AND had a lab to do the processing in ... yeah, you could make your own heroin. But it takes a lot of opium gum to make heroin.
But from a few plants of the common garden poppy you will get very little opium gum.
posted on October 14, 2000 10:22:09 PM new
It really is a lot of work, especially for an opiate. Untreated Heavenly Blue seed makes more sense for the fun-flower crowd.
posted on October 14, 2000 11:23:40 PM new
I was always under the impression that there are two kinds of poppys. Opium & Ornamental. It's possible that the seeds being sold are ornamental & you can't make opium with them. I think opium poppies are illegal to grow.
posted on October 15, 2000 05:59:50 AM new
McJane -
Some garden variety poppies, poppy-seed poppies, and the opium poppy are the same species (Papaver orientalis). And Chihuahuas, Great Danes, and poodles are the same species. It's all in the breeding.
The main difference is that the opium variety has been bred to have an extremely high concentration of opiates in its sap. It has rather ordinary flowers and small seeds. The ones on your bagels are bred for BIG tasty seeds ... the opium content is minimal, just enough to screw up a drug test if you eat a cup or two of them. And the ones bred for flowers have big, pretty flowers, small tough seeds, and little opium.
Starting with a landscape plan and a few poppy plants you aren't going to be able to make much in the way of illegal drugs because it's a lot of work and has tricky chemistry to get beyone raw opium gum or perhaps some laudanum (and that stuff is bitter and vile tasting).
******
EDITED TO ADD:
Lettuce (several varieties, especially the wild kind) was grown in Britain during WWII because of its relatively high content of an opiate that can be converted to morphine as easily as the one in poppies.
Wanna ban lettuce too?
[ edited by abacaxi on Oct 15, 2000 06:04 AM ]
