When I lived in Morocco, the field behind our house was an opium field.
It wasn't just orange poppies. They were a bunch of colors. Looked great.
My mother grew them in our back yard. My brother and I used to chase each other with dried seed pods. They rattled, and, when you smacked someone, the seeds would explode, getting into everything.
Great book as referenced in link.
"Opium For The Masses" by Jim Hogshire, 1994 [0]
[0] https://ia800802.us.archive.org/9/items/armchaircommando/Opi...
"Opium" poppies are still grown at George Washington's estate, Mt. Vernon (https://www.mountvernon.org/the-estate-gardens/gardens-lands...). Since it's also in Virginia I assume it's governed by the same state and federal laws as Monticello.
strange that a constitutional amendment was required to ban alcohol, but none was required for other drugs
And the poppy is the California state flower! Can't use it; can't plant it; and in California you can't eradicate it! A lovely world we're in.
Up in a Puff of Smoke!
>Employees even gathered the store's souvenir T-shirts with silkscreened photos of Monticello poppies on the chest -- and burned them.
Growing poppies isn't illegal
Now do eggplants.
This is not an accurate story. Monticello had for a while been concerned about the legality of growing the plant and selling the seeds. They first contacted the Department of Agriculture and the Virginia Attorney General regarding this question. They didn't receive clear guidance, so they then reached out to the DEA regarding the legality. The DEA told them it was illegal but also released a public statement that no enforcement action would take place if they grew them solely for decorative purposes on the estate. Monticello made the decision to go ahead and remove the plants anyways on their own.