Medicinal Poppy Seeds For Sale, Papaver somniferum

US Marines (above) inspect a local, shoulder-high opium poppy farm near Helmand, Afghanistan. The US soldiers used to befriend the local farmers and allowed the farming of pretty opium poppies to improve relations and to allow locals to feed their families by growing a traditional, valuable cash crop.

The common name for opium poppy seeds sold in USA grocery stores and on Starbucks' bagels is 'bread seed poppy.' All poppy seeds are specifically legal in the USA under federal statutes. Poppy seeds are nutritious and delicious and are sold in many USA grocery stores, especially ethnic food stores with Asian, Afghan or Mediterranean selections, and in bulk at Whole Foods everywhere. I buy some of my opium poppy seeds from venues in the commercial grocery market. So yes, store-bought bread seed will grow opium poppies. Poppy laws vary wildly from country to country, from no restrictions to life sentences. Many modern countries, including the UK, Tasmania and New Zealand, have no restrictions on just growing medicinal poppies. Their laws simply regulate the making of drugs from the plants, which is more sensible than making generous grandma gardeners into sudden criminals for simply growing heirloom backyard flowers.

From 10,000-50,000 years ago and up to the present, somniferum poppies have been used medicinally by ancient humans, modern great grandmothers, rural mountain folk, and even our Founding Fathers to relieve pain (Thomas Jefferson grew opium poppies at Monticello, and Ben Franklin was addicted to opium). Morphine is a staple on the battlefield and in all hospitals. Humans need this medicinal plant.

Fort Knox now holds millions of ounces of raw opium to use in the event of a nuclear holocaust. Authorities are not sure if the horde of gold bars is still there, but the stockpiles of opium sure are!

This plant was given to humans by God to use for short-term pain relief, specifically, less than one week! Longer use can create addiction in most people. Personally, we gave the hospital-provided prescription form of 'poppy juice' to my beloved mother to ease her pain as she slowly wasted away and died from the horrible and debilitating mental and physical effects of Alzheimer's (what a terrible disease!). I administered real big pharma morphine to her orally (via a medical prescription) until she passed under Hospice Care at her home here in California. It was absolutely horrible to witness--but the 'magic poppy juice' eased her pain, and therefore our pain. It was a Godsend... and I have tears rolling down my face and onto my lap as I write this very personal passage about how this medicinal plant helped alleviate my mom's suffering...

However, this plant also produces the pill form of drugs and illegal heroin that, along with fentanyl, currently kills over 125 Americans every, single day. Desperate addicts are terrible people to deal with and make dysfunctional and often angry customers, therefore I deliberately and adamantly do NOT cater to the bulk raw seed market that supplies pounds of unwashed seeds in order to extract opiates. That activity is illegal under federal law. Contrary to what you may read elsewhere, it is not legal to soak off the opiates (drug manufacturing), or to possess the finished drugs (such as tea), or to then consume it. You are breaking three laws: the manufacture, possession, and use of a controlled substance. Therefore, I will not disclose to people if any, all, or none of my seeds are washed or unwashed. I will not assist you in making and using drugs from poppy seeds. Try eBay, but not me. Do not ask about this, or you will find me very rude or totally non-responsive. Do not ask me to become a conspirator and/or enabler for your drug addiction. That is not my mission in life. You also must choose your varieties without asking me which one is the 'most medicinal.' I give some advice on my page: Plant Lore/Medicinal Poppies.

Papaver somniferum is a cold-weather flower. Typically, it is planted in September to March and will stand and bloom even in an early snow. Very frost hardy. The seeds will often NOT sprout in temps OVER 60F, or germination rates are greatly reduced. Rake rich garden soil, scatter seeds by hand; do not cover as they need light to germinate. Daily water, full sun. Sprinkling seeds just before a fall rainstorm is also a good way to go. Sprouts will appear in a few days and are very tender, prone to damping off, lack of water, pill bugs and other insects. Thin to about two feet apart, if transplanting, do not damage or expose the roots, as they are naturally poor candidates for transplant and are often killed by the shock. Established plants are very hardy, needing less water, are bug resistant, and handle hard frost; however they do NOT like warm weather, crowded root space, shade or poor soil, as that will stunt them no matter what great seed stock you have planted. Some varieties will bloom in just a month or two, with flowers lasting only 18 hours or so. Beautiful but brief. See also my more complete page on poppies under Plant Lore/Medicinal Poppies.

To stay federally legal in the USA, poppy gardeners are required to deadhead the flowers, or cut the stems off as soon as the flowers finish blooming and before they make pods. That's the rule. (I grew medicinal poppies in my front yard on a busy street in San Jose, three doors down from a SJ police officer, and nobody cared.) When a large farmer's field of opium poppies were found growing in central California near me in 2018, however, the plants were destroyed by police, but nobody was arrested.

Editorial Note: Overuse of poppy juice (just one week) can quickly lead to addiction, and, it can kill you. Overdose deaths from raw opium plant use are extremely rare, averaging only one American death per decade. HOWEVER, the pharmaceutically-produced pills derived from this plant and prescribed by licensed Medical Doctors kill over 100 Americans every single day. So, in a 'normal' decade, we have nearly 3/4 of a million dead Americans from the legal opioid prescription pills, compared to only ONE death per decade from the illegal use of raw poppy plant parts, namely tea made from unwashed seeds and pods. (How do you define insane?) A brutal testament to the political power of the American pharmaceutical industry, who even beat the DEA when they wanted to charge Big Pharma with drug crimes for all the people they killed with their dangerous, deadly and addictive drug products and their deceptive marketing of the same. They falsely claimed for years that their opiate drugs were not addictive and illegally supplied massive amounts of drugs to the numerous 'pill mills' across the USA (according to a report by 60 Minutes), causing more deaths than ALL the Central and South American Drug Cartels combined! America's deadly Opioid Drug Cartels are also commonly known as our very own Pharmaceutical companies, who make big bucks and cause big deaths with virtual impunity. Finally, they are being sued by the cities and counties across America who end up paying for the deadly effects of drug addiction and the widespread abuse of their very dangerous and addictive product.
American Big Pharma = America's Drug Cartel