http://www.poppies.org/ Poppies.org operates under a "harm-reduction" philosophy -- providing a nonjudgemental, community-based atmosphere for frank discussions on such topics as Papaver Somniferum (Opium Poppy) Cultivation, Recreational Opiate Use and Abuse, Chronic Pain, User's Rights, Narcotic Addiction and Drug Law Reform. http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en-us ajones@poppies.org (Ayatollah Jones) ajones@poppies.org (Ayatollah Jones) http://www.poppies.org/images2/rss.gif http://www.poppies.org/ 120 90 Papaver Somniferum: The continuing adventures of the world's most controversial flower -- The Opium Poppy. http://www.poppies.org/cgi-bin/news/dynamic.cgi?newsid1071148759,11833, Is the prohibition of natural substances such as Opium and Marijuana really just narcophobia? Here's a very interesting article from Singapore that explores whether Opium's impact on health has been over dramatised, and that prohibition effectively ammounts to little more than a century-long sustained attack on traditional Asian culture. This is pretty progressive stuff considering it's coming from a country where even chewing-gum was illegal until recently... http://www.poppies.org/cgi-bin/news/dynamic.cgi?newsid1070948812,83078, A Louisiana high school with a "zero-tolerance" policy on drugs has suspended a tenth-grade student for a <b>full year</b> after she was caught with ibuprofen headache pills her purse. This would be really funny if it wasn't so pathetic. http://www.poppies.org/cgi-bin/news/dynamic.cgi?newsid1069769513,23076, American forces in Afghanistan are planning an offensive against the nation's poppy crop -- supposedly the country's biggest ever. Apparently a couple of Generals saw those "if you buy drugs, you're supporting al-Qaida" commercials, and decided to take action. After all, if you can't find any of the <i>actual terrorists</i>, you gotta make it look like you're doing <b>something</b>. http://www.poppies.org/cgi-bin/news/dynamic.cgi?newsid1069337956,23480, For those in the Vancouver area that are interested, the Vacouver Museum has an exhibit on until March 2004 entitled "Opium: The Heavenly Demon". Co-curated by Barbara Hodgson (author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/081182411X/papaversomniferu/002-1329147-6625622" target="_blank">Opium: A Portrait of the Heavenly Demon</a>), the exhibit "traces opium from ancient cultures to the shores of North America, revealing on the way, both the miraculous and devastating effects of opium and its derivatives". For more information, visit the <a href="http://www.vanmuseum.bc.ca/" target="_blank">Vancouver Museum</a> web site. http://www.poppies.org/cgi-bin/news/dynamic.cgi?newsid1069120704,45256, Customs officers at Vancouver International Airport have seized more opium in the past five weeks than they did in all of 2002. Police say the busts indicate a growing demand for the drug in British Columbia. http://www.poppies.org/cgi-bin/news/dynamic.cgi?newsid1067720868,43905, A Toys R Us television commercial, which features the company's mascot, Geoffrey the Giraffe, inhaling helium from a balloon, has drawn the ire of anti-drug campaigners who say the ad sends a "dangerous message to children." http://www.poppies.org/cgi-bin/news/dynamic.cgi?newsid1066540232,29420, As one of the top producers of opium alkaloids, and the world's only supplier of <i>licit</i> raw opium gum, papaver somniferum is a booming industy in India. Here is an interesting overview of the current state of the opium industry in India -- profiling both the legitimate trade and the black market. http://www.poppies.org/cgi-bin/news/dynamic.cgi?newsid1066496241,93073, I've cleared out all of the names from the News Updates email list. If you're unsubscribing and you get an error about not being on the list, it's because you've already been removed.So if you want to continue receiving the email updates to the main-page news, you'll have to re-add your address using the form on the left sidebar. http://www.poppies.org/cgi-bin/news/dynamic.cgi?newsid1066396496,72701, I'm sure many of you have noticed some "stability" issues with the site over the last little while. To improve the situation (read: solve it), I've been working over the past couple of weeks on patching, tuning, and upgrading most of the core backend software for the site. Check the announcement in the forums for all the gory details. http://www.poppies.org/cgi-bin/news/dynamic.cgi?newsid1049658430,96995, Two Iowa students face 30 years in jail and up to $34,000 in fines after members from the Central Iowa Drug Task Force discovered seven storage bins containing growing mushrooms and more than 100 opium poppy pods in their apartment.