News Sep 7, 2010 at 1:25 pm

Comments

1
Oh, come on. This is the SLOG. If this goes for more than 25% enforcement I'll buy a hat and eat it.
2
Not enough information. Need to know the degree of addictiveness, how detrimental it is to health, symptoms of overdose, etc. In other words, how expensive is treatment? How can you make this tradeoff with no quantitative information at all? You're basically asking people to take an extremely philosophical stance on treatment v. enforcement that has almost no grounding in reality.
3
pffft is right.

That said, enforcement rarely works, other than for the large-scale dealers and gangs, even though those are created by the economic forces of prohibition as any student of science knows.
4
Another consideration: how many people had even heard of this stuff before the crackdown started? Now that the police have stumbled on it and are drawing attention to it by turning it into the Next Big Paycheck, er, Thing That WIll Kill Your Children, how many more idiot teenagers will be searching for this stuff?
5
Wasn't there an article in Utne Reader a few years back on making poppy tea, and how you can do this with ANY poppy, which are readily available from any garden store?
6
http://michaelpollan.com/articles-archiv…

The crack down is neither new, nor are opium poppies particularly difficult to come by.

http://bit.ly/c0itsh
7
It's not even a question between treatment or enforcement. Our options are treatment AND enforcement, or just lots of treatment.
8
@4 is correct. Fear works for attracting teens and raising funds that would be better spent elsewhere. Heck, spending the same dollars we do on enforcement on ... say ... a Chihulhy Museum .... would be far more effective.
9
@4: Agreed. My first thought was yum.

I don't think criminalizing any substance will create more addicts--I think we'll end up with roughly the same number. The substance may change, but either way someone who wants to get high WILL find a fix, whether it's from opium tea or cough syrup or huffing glue.

Or, you know, alcohol.
10
we used to make this back in high school, i thought everyone (stoners) knew about it.
11
Mmmmm. Alcohol.
12
Interesting. Now I have something new to try with my poppies next year. Thanks, Slog!
13
Enforcement is another stupid waste of resources. I don't care about toxicology reports etc. A treatment approach at least tries to curb demand by being open about the problem. Other commenters have already addressed this but now that the law enforcement people have raised awareness of a new exotic "rare" thing that one can't have, more will inevitably want it, thus ensuring job security for our "heroes" in blue.
14
Maybe I'm wrong, but can't one grow poppy flowers in their own gardens and save/dry the bulbs? Or are those of a differing variety that doesn't produce the desired affect?

Anyone??
15
This is probably the most legally binding Slog poll ever.
16
What we need instead of SLOG Polls is SLOG Click The Cow games where we vote depending on how bored we are.

I predict these would be won by the option choice that uses a lolcat for an image.
18
It's strange that you are allowed to grow opium poppies so long as you don't harvest them for opium. I can't think of another instance where the honor system is used in drug enforcement.
19
The legit poppy industry is already in place and would no doubt exert considerable financial pressure to insure that they're not declared "illegal".
20
@18 it's a lot of work to grow them. They have very pretty flowers, but you have to mist them and avoid heavy watering.
21
Yeah, Will, I'm real sure they run around with misters in fucking Afghanistan (a much harsher climate than Seattle, by the way).
22
I need treatment for my painful, life altering latte addiction.
23
@20, I used to see them in more flowerbeds than not when I lived in Oly, including my own yard. We didn't have to do a thing, they just grew then bloomed.

As a treat, I used to love making tea (never knew it was called doda until now) from dried pods. I can only speak for me I guess, but it certainly didn't seem addictive to me nor for my friends with whom I shared.

Enforcing the "crackdown" on this is probably just as realistic as cracking down on cyanescens mushrooms, which also grow unattended all over parts of the Great Northwest and of which I know not a thing about.
24
Seattle and the whole green, lush, plant-thriving North West has been growing an abundance of poppies for a long long time- and it's been no secret (to the police or anyone else). Pre-methadone heroin addicts, hippies, gardeners, housewives etc have been growing it and making tea from it FOREVER around here. The recent retail price has gone up between 100%-400%- which is insane since it will grow anywhere and it has started people growing it instead of buying it (you can make heroin from the flowers but if you buy them from someone else they are already dried and drained). This type of article will only get young stupid drug curious kids drinking it. (It's known to be more addicting than heroin if you don't have self control with it- no more than 2X/week) Brendan I usually appreciate your articles but you should have learned more about this one before posting without the many many warnings that should come with even mentioning this glorious drug...
25
@24 and others: "Poppies: Odyssey of an Opium Eater" by Eric Detzer (1988: Mercury House: San Francisco) is a great account of being a poppy fiend in the Seattle area.

As far as being "more addicting," can we please lay this fucking shibboleth to rest. To paraphrase Kesey: "one person's poison is another one's high." Addiction is mostly in the body/mind of the user. Actual pharmacology has relatively little to do with it. See also: Zinburg "Set and Setting."

And contra Willie (who apparently knows nothing about this subject either....surprise, surprise), poppies are ridiculously easy to grow. From the tropical jungles of SE Asia to the arid mountains of Afghanistan or Mexico and to the chilly, hilly flanks of Seattle. Mist my ass.

26
Where is the "back in my pocket" option? Or does that possibility not even occur to a Stranger writer?
27
first time i see this love it definet gowing to grow some and eat them or smoke them or whatever else i can do with them no matter watever you fuckers that are agance it say.lol .there is allways a way around the leagalatiy.fuck dea ... enjoy in moderation like anything else and you will be fine .slowly your rights are being taken away in many differnt ways.ask yourself are we realy free . no fucken way.this generation needs to wake the fuck up and fight for fredom.first matter of buisnes are own goverment. do it before they tell us when to take a fucken shit.
28
Good comment 4x4

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