Dried Poppy
Basic Uses for the Dried Poppy
The dried poppy is known as papaverum poppy. When poppies are naturally dried, they are attractively used in flower arrangements. Or the seeds can be planted.
Dried poppy pods are sometimes sold in craft stores, for flower crafting. These are usually from the plant P. somniferum, which is commonly known as the opium poppy. The pods contain raw opium even after they are dried, but crafters pods are usually coated with a preservative that can't be ingested.
Some people describe a way to use the opium content from these dried pods by grinding and crushing the whole pod with a coffee grinder, mortar and pestle or a knife. You can then steep the ground pods in water, thus extracting the opium. There have been many reports of nausea after people drink opium tea made from dried pods, however, and one possible death.
Many dried seeds sold at grocery stores are actually seeds from the P. somniferum, or the opium poppy. These seeds do contain low levels of psychoactive opiates, most commonly morphine. People sometimes make tea from large quantities of dried poppy seeds, to get the effects of the morphine.
Dried pods are commonly called amazing creations of Mother Nature. After the poppies grow during the spring, and bloom lovely flowers each summer, the poppy pods are then dried by the wind and the sun. In this way, they can be used for decorations and crafts. Dried poppies make excellent floral arrangements and wreathes. They can also be painted and used for other types of craft projects.
Some people buy dried poppy pods on eBay to use for crafting and floral arrangements. It is the subject of dispute whether these are legal transactions or not, since, technically, everything but the seeds of the poppy are controlled substances.
According to United States federal law, any of the plant known as P. Somniferum other than seeds is called “poppy straw”, and is a controlled substance. There isn't technically any state in the United States where anything other than seeds is legal to buy and sell.
Dried poppies have a perfectly legitimate use in arranging flowers and in making wreaths and other crafts, so they can be easy to acquire. It hasn't often been prosecuted, but that is all subject to change. It just depends on how the law is interpreted. This isn't to say that cops will begin raiding craft stores, but if one is using the poppy straw for some less “legal” purpose, that person should not assume they are not breaking the law.
Poppy seeds from the opium poppy are the same seeds that you find on a poppyseed bagel. You can buy them anywhere. But the dried poppy pods are another story. The pod is a greenish-blue globe filled with latex, which is opium. The pods are dried and readily available from florists and on the internet, but technically are a controlled substance.
So, those who use the poppy straw for making opium tea or the like, have a conundrum. They can buy what they need legally, but then they put it to use illegally.