I’m turning into something of an Amazonian these days, though some might argue I have been a warrior/goddess for the past decade or so.

But I am not talking about mythical female warriors now; I’m talking about Internet shopping and Amazon. I love being able to shop online there, and am amazed at how quickly they get products to your door.

I’ve been exploring the wide world of Amazon.com/ca for the last little while, and was quite startled to come across some products that might be less than legal in Canada and the U.S. No, I’m not talking about cannabis seeds, even though there are some to be bought on Amazon. I’m talking about something far more serious: Opium poppy seeds.

You would think with the current opioid crisis sweeping much of the Western world that big online companies would, umm, weed out such things. But then again, I would love to grow some of those beautiful poppies simply for the flowers.

My research into the legal status of opium poppies (Papaver somniferum) has turned up mixed results, and a lot of confusion among people who are not really sure if it is legal to grow them (for flowers) or not.

It seems that it may be legal to possess the seeds, but it could be illegal to grow them, and it is definitely illegal to grow them and produce opium, morphine etc.

I was going to order some, but visions of a life behind bars scared me. I mean, what if authorities didn’t believe “I only wanted to grow them for the flowers!”

So, I ordered some other types of seeds, instead.

Which brings up another subject for a future post: Amazonian woman (the warrior goddess type) I may very well be, but I am finding myself interested in planting flower seeds these days. Exotic flower seeds, some befitting an Amazonian woman. More on that another time . . .

— Jillian

Photo: Papaver somniferum flower