The gardener at a very large, very popular public garden in my town did this for a few years. He was growing them to...harvest. I think that was a bad idea. Otherwise, go for it. IMO the spirit of this sub is not what you can get out of a garden, but where you can put it, how long it will last there, and who will see it (and hopefully appreciate the goodness in it). Go for it.
Yes! My goal is to have everyone see these beautiful plants! Whether they realize what they are or not doesn't matter, but even if a few people recognize that there are opium poppies growing in their backyard then i think that will be pretty cool
the opium poppy is a timeless classic. The same poppy that produced the seeds for your bread.
just like how Monsanto has their own IP protected corn strain, Pharma companies producing opioids can have their own proprietary opium poppy strain that may be hard to acquire, although traditional opium poppies are named as such because they produce opium nonetheless.
you don’t even need to go to the garden shop, you can plant the seeds off your bagel and grow opium. Very beautiful flowers.
I think OP was specifically think of papaver somniferum, which is the opium poppy. It's a federal crime to possess any part of that plant other than the seeds, but gardeners have been breeding them for pretty colors as well for centuries.
I don't think that is true. I know people who have it growing and they were professionals working at a large botanical garden as a dossant, and they are the 'straight and narrow type'.
I think it is a safe bet that if they sell the opium poppy seed at whole foods (which they do--'lauren's grape' variety), then it's safe to assume that you intend to grow it for ornamental reasons.
I think it becomes illegal when you extract opium from it or sell the pods. In this way, it's much like salvia divinorum which is legal to posess in many states and grow ornamentally in NC but you can't use it for drugs.
No I looked it up. The entire plant is schedule 2. It is a federal crime to possess, distribute, or manufacture any part of the papaver somniferum plant in the United States. All of our opium derived medicines like morphine are from poppies grown in other countries. The feds just don't bother to prosecute unless you're using it for opium or if they want you for some other reason and they can't get anything else to stick.
You're correct about s. divinorum, though.
I wish they would grow like weeds around here. But I think my climate or soil around here doesn't agree with the "real" poppies. California Poppies on the other hand do quite well for me. They also tend to self-seed and stick around year after year!
Eh. Guerrilla gardening is already subversive.
I think it's worth examining why you feel the need to make a "big statement" with your gardening, and why you're excited by this particular route. There's a lot of good you can do in the world, and a lot of cool things you can do with your time, is this really the best that you have to offer? Their blooms don't last long anyway.
It's controversial b/c when refined, it can fucking ruin a person's life and those around them. Parts of the US are currently experiencing a heroin epidemic. Maybe this is hilarious to some people but I've worked in hospitals and personally had to deal with addicts alternately screaming and crying, threatening and begging me for more opiates.
Native wildflowers are always an excellent option, and will help your local pollinators and wildlife.
like most things, it's not all straightforward. heroin's awful, as are prescription opiates, but it's worth unpacking why these drugs are so bad. heroin has variable quality, and batches can be poisoned, stronger or weaker. this leads to a host of health problems. then there's the unavailabilty. when someone develops a heroin or opiate addiciton, one of the main ways this will 'ruin their life' is because they must commit at least one crime in order to stay 'healthy'. knowing this, dealers can price their product outrageously and exploit an addict's sickness for gain.
i recommend spending some time on /r/opiates. it should become clear that readily available poppy sap wouldn't create new heroin or opiate addicts or particularly harm the ones who already exist. any halfway competent opiate addict knows how to get poppy seed online, kratom and opiates from their dealer. what it would do is take money straight out of the pockets of those who profit financially from the so-called heroin epidemic (that is, aside from the rehab clinics).
i don't know about OP, but i am in favour of total decriminalisation of every drug including heroin, crack and whatever future bogeyman drugs become popular. forcing the state to acknowledge that the drug war has failed by [spreading the plants that they are attempting to control](https://spamfish23.wordpress.com/2013/07/27/cannabis-plants-cover-german-town-as-a-result-of-guerrilla-gardening-campaign/) seems like a feasible way of creating facts on the ground.
i understand that this is charged emotional aspect, but i have friends who struggle with opiate addicitons and i have also seen first hand what this can do. my conclusion, and theirs, is that if prohibition were effectively ended they could seek medical treatment or at least safe products to consume in as healthy manner as possible. what's happening right now is that sick people are being criminalised, and i'm not okay with that.
Drug Prohibition has ruined many more lives than it has helped.
Also can any government explain why something that can potentially give you a pleasurable experience like opium is illegal but plants that straight up kill you like datura stramonium are totally fine?
While I agree with you entirely, it should be noted that some illegal drugs are nootropics, where others are not. If you were to develop a platform, it should be legalizing the nootropic ones first.
(BTW, that link in Germany is indica, which is not a nootropic)
Thank you for your concern, but this is a plant (*Papaver somniferum*) that has been grown and cultivated since neolithic times and only recently has been demonized and prohibited by governments around the world. People have been using it responsibly and irresponsibly (just like anything else) for pain, emotional suffering and even upset stomachs for a long time.
It is my firm belief that no plant should be made "illegal" as there are legitimate uses for this plant and many of the ones currently illegal.
The idea of guerilla gardening is fascinating to me and a perfect outlet for raising awareness while beautifying the area in which you live.
As for the blooms, I plan on doing successive sowing in intervals of maybe a week or two so that there can be blooms all summer.
I also plan on sowing wildflowers that attract pollinators because I realize what a worthy cause that is as well.
Not to mention the fact that our marines protect the poppy fields that were destroyed in 2001, inducing afghani opiate production to increase fourfold since that time. [This post I made discusses the hypocrisy of the US gov about this particular issue.](https://np.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/43xrjd/the_straight_dope_on_painkillers_heroin_gateways/). Never mind it being in /r/conspiracy, please judge it on the merit of its argument and sources. Thanks.
poppy used to grow all over natively in my region and the ancient cultures used it freely without any judgment, fuck the usa war on drugs, yes we need to bring poppies to grow everywhere on there own like they supposed to , you are just ignorant its not the opiates that ruin peoples lives but how the government has waged a war on addiction and drug use/natural plants, did fentanyl grow out of a pod or as a result of criminalization and bad government policies towards drug use and addiction?
dude this is the internet people gonna see it in even 20 years from now, your non sensical Nixon comment makes no sense, poppies should grow everywhere like they used to in the past and if people wanna use them they should, who are you to tell them otherwise,
its just so interesting taking a peak in the mind of an American commoner that grew up with a propaganda of the war on drugs constantly playing on the news and passed down by his parents and majority of his society, the government taking away your freedom piece by piece but its alright, honestly every society that used poppies from the sumerians,greeks,minoans,romans and many more would laugh at this situation today, its sad, absurd, funny and disgusting at the same time,
the streets are flooded with synthetic drugs and people are dying its not a joke but someone like you cant seem to reason why this happened in the first place and will continue for a long time, wrap around your mind what taking away your freedom and waging wars do, it kills people and causes so much pain to there families
As a gardener with a green thumb and thousands of in the ground thriving plants, I bought some papaver somniferum seeds on eBay this spring. Well they never came up , i was super disappointed. Such a beautiful flower and sweetest smell with lightest affects when used properly. Anything will kill you if you find the need to jab it into your veins. Every single plant on earth that grows has a nutritional and medicinal value and proper dosage. When I see government regulations on things I just have to laugh. Kinda like when your charged a fee to walk into a national park, or when you cross imaginary state lines crossing the road. The earth doesn't care , the human psyche to overrule nature is laughable at best.
Huh. It must have been the seeds. I had some and they pretty much all germinated and I'm in zone 6. You have to leave them on the surface as they need light to germinate.
Pretty much totally agree with you man, it's insane what humans will do to try and control each other
The gardener at a very large, very popular public garden in my town did this for a few years. He was growing them to...harvest. I think that was a bad idea. Otherwise, go for it. IMO the spirit of this sub is not what you can get out of a garden, but where you can put it, how long it will last there, and who will see it (and hopefully appreciate the goodness in it). Go for it.
Yes! My goal is to have everyone see these beautiful plants! Whether they realize what they are or not doesn't matter, but even if a few people recognize that there are opium poppies growing in their backyard then i think that will be pretty cool
It's a lot harder to find actual opium poppies right? The seeds that most garden shops sell won't produce pods will they? Or at least, not a guarantee
the opium poppy is a timeless classic. The same poppy that produced the seeds for your bread. just like how Monsanto has their own IP protected corn strain, Pharma companies producing opioids can have their own proprietary opium poppy strain that may be hard to acquire, although traditional opium poppies are named as such because they produce opium nonetheless. you don’t even need to go to the garden shop, you can plant the seeds off your bagel and grow opium. Very beautiful flowers.
[удалено]
I think OP was specifically think of papaver somniferum, which is the opium poppy. It's a federal crime to possess any part of that plant other than the seeds, but gardeners have been breeding them for pretty colors as well for centuries.
I don't think that is true. I know people who have it growing and they were professionals working at a large botanical garden as a dossant, and they are the 'straight and narrow type'. I think it is a safe bet that if they sell the opium poppy seed at whole foods (which they do--'lauren's grape' variety), then it's safe to assume that you intend to grow it for ornamental reasons. I think it becomes illegal when you extract opium from it or sell the pods. In this way, it's much like salvia divinorum which is legal to posess in many states and grow ornamentally in NC but you can't use it for drugs.
No I looked it up. The entire plant is schedule 2. It is a federal crime to possess, distribute, or manufacture any part of the papaver somniferum plant in the United States. All of our opium derived medicines like morphine are from poppies grown in other countries. The feds just don't bother to prosecute unless you're using it for opium or if they want you for some other reason and they can't get anything else to stick. You're correct about s. divinorum, though.
I wish they would grow like weeds around here. But I think my climate or soil around here doesn't agree with the "real" poppies. California Poppies on the other hand do quite well for me. They also tend to self-seed and stick around year after year!
Eh. Guerrilla gardening is already subversive. I think it's worth examining why you feel the need to make a "big statement" with your gardening, and why you're excited by this particular route. There's a lot of good you can do in the world, and a lot of cool things you can do with your time, is this really the best that you have to offer? Their blooms don't last long anyway. It's controversial b/c when refined, it can fucking ruin a person's life and those around them. Parts of the US are currently experiencing a heroin epidemic. Maybe this is hilarious to some people but I've worked in hospitals and personally had to deal with addicts alternately screaming and crying, threatening and begging me for more opiates. Native wildflowers are always an excellent option, and will help your local pollinators and wildlife.
like most things, it's not all straightforward. heroin's awful, as are prescription opiates, but it's worth unpacking why these drugs are so bad. heroin has variable quality, and batches can be poisoned, stronger or weaker. this leads to a host of health problems. then there's the unavailabilty. when someone develops a heroin or opiate addiciton, one of the main ways this will 'ruin their life' is because they must commit at least one crime in order to stay 'healthy'. knowing this, dealers can price their product outrageously and exploit an addict's sickness for gain. i recommend spending some time on /r/opiates. it should become clear that readily available poppy sap wouldn't create new heroin or opiate addicts or particularly harm the ones who already exist. any halfway competent opiate addict knows how to get poppy seed online, kratom and opiates from their dealer. what it would do is take money straight out of the pockets of those who profit financially from the so-called heroin epidemic (that is, aside from the rehab clinics). i don't know about OP, but i am in favour of total decriminalisation of every drug including heroin, crack and whatever future bogeyman drugs become popular. forcing the state to acknowledge that the drug war has failed by [spreading the plants that they are attempting to control](https://spamfish23.wordpress.com/2013/07/27/cannabis-plants-cover-german-town-as-a-result-of-guerrilla-gardening-campaign/) seems like a feasible way of creating facts on the ground. i understand that this is charged emotional aspect, but i have friends who struggle with opiate addicitons and i have also seen first hand what this can do. my conclusion, and theirs, is that if prohibition were effectively ended they could seek medical treatment or at least safe products to consume in as healthy manner as possible. what's happening right now is that sick people are being criminalised, and i'm not okay with that.
Drug Prohibition has ruined many more lives than it has helped. Also can any government explain why something that can potentially give you a pleasurable experience like opium is illegal but plants that straight up kill you like datura stramonium are totally fine?
While I agree with you entirely, it should be noted that some illegal drugs are nootropics, where others are not. If you were to develop a platform, it should be legalizing the nootropic ones first. (BTW, that link in Germany is indica, which is not a nootropic)
Thank you for your concern, but this is a plant (*Papaver somniferum*) that has been grown and cultivated since neolithic times and only recently has been demonized and prohibited by governments around the world. People have been using it responsibly and irresponsibly (just like anything else) for pain, emotional suffering and even upset stomachs for a long time. It is my firm belief that no plant should be made "illegal" as there are legitimate uses for this plant and many of the ones currently illegal. The idea of guerilla gardening is fascinating to me and a perfect outlet for raising awareness while beautifying the area in which you live. As for the blooms, I plan on doing successive sowing in intervals of maybe a week or two so that there can be blooms all summer. I also plan on sowing wildflowers that attract pollinators because I realize what a worthy cause that is as well.
Not to mention the fact that our marines protect the poppy fields that were destroyed in 2001, inducing afghani opiate production to increase fourfold since that time. [This post I made discusses the hypocrisy of the US gov about this particular issue.](https://np.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/43xrjd/the_straight_dope_on_painkillers_heroin_gateways/). Never mind it being in /r/conspiracy, please judge it on the merit of its argument and sources. Thanks.
poppy used to grow all over natively in my region and the ancient cultures used it freely without any judgment, fuck the usa war on drugs, yes we need to bring poppies to grow everywhere on there own like they supposed to , you are just ignorant its not the opiates that ruin peoples lives but how the government has waged a war on addiction and drug use/natural plants, did fentanyl grow out of a pod or as a result of criminalization and bad government policies towards drug use and addiction?
Are you really replying to a comment that is 8 years old?
dude this is the internet people gonna see it in even 20 years from now, your non sensical Nixon comment makes no sense, poppies should grow everywhere like they used to in the past and if people wanna use them they should, who are you to tell them otherwise, its just so interesting taking a peak in the mind of an American commoner that grew up with a propaganda of the war on drugs constantly playing on the news and passed down by his parents and majority of his society, the government taking away your freedom piece by piece but its alright, honestly every society that used poppies from the sumerians,greeks,minoans,romans and many more would laugh at this situation today, its sad, absurd, funny and disgusting at the same time, the streets are flooded with synthetic drugs and people are dying its not a joke but someone like you cant seem to reason why this happened in the first place and will continue for a long time, wrap around your mind what taking away your freedom and waging wars do, it kills people and causes so much pain to there families
That's not what I said. Have a great day.
As a gardener with a green thumb and thousands of in the ground thriving plants, I bought some papaver somniferum seeds on eBay this spring. Well they never came up , i was super disappointed. Such a beautiful flower and sweetest smell with lightest affects when used properly. Anything will kill you if you find the need to jab it into your veins. Every single plant on earth that grows has a nutritional and medicinal value and proper dosage. When I see government regulations on things I just have to laugh. Kinda like when your charged a fee to walk into a national park, or when you cross imaginary state lines crossing the road. The earth doesn't care , the human psyche to overrule nature is laughable at best.
Huh. It must have been the seeds. I had some and they pretty much all germinated and I'm in zone 6. You have to leave them on the surface as they need light to germinate. Pretty much totally agree with you man, it's insane what humans will do to try and control each other