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Comment by zoklet-enjoyer | Hacker News Reader

Growing poppies isn't illegal

No one said that, read the article.

> Jefferson had planted opium poppies in his medicinal garden, and opium poppies are now deemed illegal

Growing with the intent to produce opium is illegal. By continuing his tradition in the museum, it was deemed a continuation of production for drugs and so probably came under scrutiny. I'm sure they could regrow a garden for decorative purposes if they actually did that and were clear about it.

I really don't know anything about this topic but according to the DEA it is "technically" illegal:

https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1991/rt9...

That's a cool source that contradicts the article posted originally. In yours they say they won't prosecute, but in the article it claims they were low-key threatened into getting rid of the garden. Odd.

Yeah found it after posting the article, although I wouldn't say it contradicts the story (except for the title), this is my interpretation: random DEA agent sees something [1] that looks probably illegal during a visit and notifies Monticello, Monticello then attempts to confirm this with DEA through more official channels, who then clarifies that it is technically illegal but they wont persecute, even then Monticello decides to remove the plants and seeds [2].

1- `A DEA man noticed the store was selling packets of "Thomas Jefferson's Monticello Poppies."`

2- `Nobody told them to do this, but, under the circumstances, no one dared risk the threat`

The article did say that:

> The seeds had to go, too. While poppy seeds might be legal, it is never legal to plant them. Not for any reason.

Yeah, but you won't find opium poppies seeds anywhere online anymore, even if you just want them for decoration/tea.

This is completely untrue. Every major garden supplier will sell them, and there are a number of places where you can find cultivars bred for their alkaloid content. The latter type is perhaps grey-area legal, but definitely still available on the internet.

Google poppy seed tea. You will find plenty of poppy seed vendors lols

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