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timtam

poppies legal or not?

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Hi everyone, i'll get straight to the point is it legal to grow opium poppies for ornamental purposes in the state of victoria

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I'll get straight to the point too. No they are prohibited.

here's a news article


Man turns Safeway seeds to opium

November 8 2002
By Steve Butcher


08POPPIES,0.jpg

Homegrown opium poppies.

A Victorian judge was shocked yesterday at how a drug addict was able to grow 230 opium poppies at home from seeds bought from the herbs section of a supermarket.

Judge James Duggan was told it was possible that Ronald Mark Fiddes had bought untreated imported poppy seeds that produced the prohibited plants.

Prosecutor Chris Ryan confirmed it was possible for someone to grow opium plants from untreated overseas seeds, whereas all poppy seeds grown in Australia were treated.

The County Court heard that police found two crops weighing a total of 37 kilograms in the front and back yard of Fiddes' Lower Plenty unit on November 20, 2001.

Mr Ryan said the capsules of some plants showed evidence of scoring from a sharp blade that meant the opium sap or resin had been harvested.

Morphine formed about 1 to 3 per cent of the resin while Fiddes' crop would have produced a quantity of opium about half the size of a cricket ball, he said.

It was accepted, he said, that Fiddes had not trafficked the opium and had grown it for personal use.

Joe Toal, defending, said Fiddes, 40, had been "totally soaked" in drugs, mostly heroin, morphine or methadone, for about 20 years.

Fiddes had been a methadone addict for 10 years from 1989 before he decided to get off it and start working as a labourer. After a serious back injury, he unsuccessfully applied to legally obtain morphine for pain relief. Then he had been told about growing poppies for opium.

"He wanted to keep to himself and not bother anyone and try and create a situation that was physically tolerable for him," Mr Toal said.

So Fiddes went to a Safeway store, selected two bags of poppy seeds from the herbs section, planted them, and "they took off", he said.

Judge Duggan said he found such a scenario "mind-boggling".

Fiddes got between 10 and 12 fingernail-sized balls of opium, which he swallowed with water, that helped with his morphine addiction and pain control.

Fiddes, an industrial spray painter, of Main Road, Lower Plenty, pleaded guilty to cultivating a narcotic plant and to possessing marijuana.

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Duggan said he was surprised that Fiddes had been able to "plant an illegal crop so simply". He jailed Fiddes for two years with one year suspended for 24 months.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/11/07/1036308423803.html?oneclick=true

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I'm not advocating growing opium poppies for anything other than ornamental purposes, but seriously, if you are going to do it... don't do it in your FRONT yard!?

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^^ yes, P. rhoeas is legal to grow, as are many other species. If you use the search engine, you'll find a whole bunch of threads about legal poppies. It's only the ones that contain actual opiates generally that are illegal. Papaver somniferum is illegal to grow basically everywhere in Australia, and chances are unless you're a 60-year-old woman who knits and grows roses and attends church then saying they're ornamental isn't really going to get you out of strife if somebody finds out about it.

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^^ yes, P. rhoeas is legal to grow, as are many other species. If you use the search engine, you'll find a whole bunch of threads about legal poppies. It's only the ones that contain actual opiates generally that are illegal. Papaver somniferum is illegal to grow basically everywhere in Australia, and chances are unless you're a 60-year-old woman who knits and grows roses and attends church then saying they're ornamental isn't really going to get you out of strife if somebody finds out about it.

Thank you :)

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I love how it's phrased, the opium "helped" him with his morphine addiction. As if it was doing anything other than perpetuating it. I feel sorry for the guy - 20 years of opiate addiction would wreak havoc on any soul. The judges verdict was kind of ridiculous - he belongs in the medical system, not the legal system.

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He also had a job which is hard for a lot of addicts and he was put in jail. I doubt his job

will be there when he gets out . He went from taxpayer to tax burden .

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If you want to grow poppies do it in Afghanistan, thats where all the cool kids are doin it these days

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Trust a judge to be "mind-boggled" that plants come from seeds :rolleyes:

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I'm not advocating growing opium poppies for anything other than ornamental purposes, but seriously, if you are going to do it... don't do it in your FRONT yard!?

My first thought was "he was growing them in his front yard!!?"

Trust a judge to be "mind-boggled" that plants come from seeds :rolleyes:

LoL

Edited by michael1968

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I wonder (and this really is purely academic, I have no interest in or use for opium) if it would even be possible for him to get the yields he needs without using his front yard. He'd have to have a big house with a few rooms solely dedicated to poppy growing right? He had a half a golf ball sized wad of opium from 230 poppies. Do you think that was enough to sustain his habit? Hmmm.

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ok thanks guys, after just now doing some research i see the plant that is growing at my local church might not be the opium poppy, But i'm still not sure? can anyone confirm that this poppy is legal to grow thank you :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papaver_rhoeas#Uses

makes me wanna go to church

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The Government back during WWII encouraged people to grow Papaver somniferum to supply morphine to the diggers, also during the gold rush the chinese bought over seeds with them & that is why many of the old gold grounds have poppies growing like weeds (wild variety). They also follow the train lines, seen them growing all around Sydney, if you wanted to get some hires photos or something.

Edited by Leaves

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