The Drug Policy Alliance has started a letter campaign against a plan currently under consideration in the US Senate that basically amounts to launching a biological warfare attack against countries such as Columbia and Afghanistan.

Mycoherbicides have already been extensively studied over the last thirty years - and the results make it clear that they are not an option for controlling crops of coca or opium poppies. They attack indiscriminately, destroying fruit and vegetable crops, causing open sores and feminization in reptiles and other animals, and sickening humans as well. The toxins mycoherbicides produce contaminate soil for years, so that nothing can grow where they have been. Mycoherbicides are so destructive that governments have even stockpiled them as weapons...

Sounds real pleasant.

Posted by Ayatollah Jones at 09:16 AM | Permalink

DrugWarRant reports that a settlement has been reached in the disgusting Goose Creek high school drug raid fiasco. The students will split a $1.2 million settlement, stemming from a racially suspect "random" drug search of the school with guns drawn and police dogs to terrorize search the students. The video of the raid pretty much speaks for itself.

Posted by Ayatollah Jones at 09:07 AM | Permalink

Afghan farmers of poppies find themselves caught between the devil and the deep sea. With poverty rife in the war-torn nation, it’s difficult to resist the lure of easy money from cultivating opium poppies, despite international efforts to curb the poppy trade.

Hat tip: DrugSpot

Posted by Ayatollah Jones at 07:39 PM | Permalink

A warm welcome to everyone who joined up during our latest round of open registration at the Papaver Somni-Forum. The open registration period is now coming to a close. The poppies.org forum will re-open to new user accounts some time within the next quarter.

If you haven't signed up for a somni-forum account yet, it's not too late. You still have until the end of April 8th to join in. Registration is free, and allows you to participate in the discussions and maybe make a few friends while you're at it too. :)

Registration at the Papaver Somni-Forum will be closing on April 8th at 11:59pm EST.

Posted by Ayatollah Jones at 08:55 AM | Permalink

More revelations from The Senlis Council today, with a new report on the wires that the British government has failed to honor its pledge to compensate Afghani poppy farmers for eradicating papaver somniferum crops, causing widespread anger in the volatile region.

Based on interviews with farmers in the Helmand province, where 3,300 British troops will arrive over the coming months, the group claims that U.K. counter-narcotics officers promised local farmers $350 for every fifth of a hectare of opium poppies they destroyed.

'These farmers kept their side of the deal and eradicated their crops, but the British Government did not keep their word,' said Mohammad Gull, a local representative from the Sharwali District in Helmand who was involved in the initial negotiations with the British representatives. 'In our culture this is very dishonorable and we are very angry.'

Posted by Ayatollah Jones at 07:49 AM | Permalink

Yes, ingestion of poppy seed bagels or poppyseed cake can indeed cause a false positive on a urine test for opiates. Ingestion of poppy seeds can result in a positive drug test as long as two days after ingestion. According to the myth-busting website snopes, "as little as a single bagel covered with poppy seeds could produce a false positive test for these drugs".

Read the complete answer »»

Posted by Ayatollah Jones at 11:00 PM | Permalink

They are many and all of them beautiful. Deciding which type to grow is up to you, and your environment for growing be it indoors or out, hot and dry or wet and cool.

Read the complete answer »»

Posted by Ayatollah Jones at 11:57 AM | Permalink

The poppy belongs to a family of plants called "Papaveracea". There are about 200 species that belong to this family of plants. The most famous, naturally, is the species "papaver somniferum" which produces Opium, from which Morphine and Codeine are extracted for use as an analgesic narcotic in the treatment of mild to severe pain.

Read the complete answer »»

Posted by Ayatollah Jones at 11:54 AM | Permalink

Papaver Somniferum, aka the Opium Poppy, is a hardy annual that can grow almost anywhere in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. There are many different species of papaveraceae, but none is as prized as the somniferum, for both its beauty and its seeds, which are used in baking and in the production of cooking oil. It is striking in appearance, with stunningly colourful blooms, and stark mournful pods. Its pods are often dried and used in flower arrangements. Papaver Somniferum has also been used medicinally for centuries; as a painkiller, muscle relaxant, diarrhoea remedy, and intoxicant.

Read the complete answer »»

Posted by Ayatollah Jones at 11:51 AM | Permalink

No.

Posted by Ayatollah Jones at 11:50 AM | Permalink

California Poppies are not Papaver, and therefore do not contain any of the familiar alkaloids that are present in strains such as the Somniferum.

According to American folk medicine herbals-they were used by the native americans-the sap for toothache-tea for colic in babies-used for mild pain as a tea or soaked in hot water then used as a compress.

Used by pioneers to treat insomnia, nervous disorders, pain, muscle spasm. Also a diuretic because of its affect on cramping pain, water retention and anxiety. It was used by women for menstrual distress.

It has been suggested that it can be smoked as a legal sort of high, but it is unlikely that you will get any noticable effect.

Posted by Ayatollah Jones at 11:42 AM | Permalink