In article , "Brian"
wrote:

P.somniferum grows as freely as a weed locally, but is most attractive, and
hence left to bloom and go to seed and thus goes on and on.. From fifty
plants' fruits I tried to bleed off the sap. This eventually dried to a
speck that would have caused no problem to a constipated mouse!! It tasted
awful and wouldn't respond to heat~~not that I knew how it should have
responded!
I was sixteen and have never bothered since. I have seen the seeds being
collected but don't know if these were for cooking or scattering. They are
not illegal to grow here 'without intent'. Eg. It is not illegal to carry
a crowbar; unless it is being carried to use to break into a property!!.

A friend used hers for home-made laudenum. The potency was doubtful since
she grew the poppies in Seattle & it's the wrong sort of climate to
develop the opiating alkaloids, gorgeous though her poppy garden was. But
since laudenum is mostly alcohol anyway, she got roaring drunk on it at
times, & swore it was a better experience than being drunk on wine or
brandy. I for a while planned to get drunk a few times with her, as
laudenum is what most of the major & greatest opium-addict authors were
doing, as opposed to smoking it pure, so they were drunkards as much as
opium addicts. Since the classic opium authors are so excellent I wanted
to do laudenum out of admiration for their art. But being a teetotlar, it
was just too big a decision to decide to drink anything at all, & the more
research I did about it the less wise it seemed to be. It helps to be
stupid about things if you wanna be an addict, or you're bound to change
your mind.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/