GRANNY WON'T BE GROWING POPPIES ANY MORE

Dear Editor,

In his recent letter, Don Hanrahan ironically applauds the opposition for
looking into the cultivation of hemp. He jokingly posits that allowing
granny to grow poppies in her flower garden led to the depravity of poppy
seed buns and hence to kids shooting smack.

In fact, granny is no longer permitted to grow poppies, or at least not the
opium poppy -- Papaver somniferum. Here's a notice that appears in the
Thompson & Morgan Seed Catalog for 2001: "We regret that due to a ruling by
the Drug Enforcement Administration, we're unable to to supply somniferum
Poppies to the United States." Other seed catalogs carry a similar
notice. I'm reminded of the old "Song of the Temperence Union."

"We never eat fruitcake because it has rum

and one little taste makes a man on the bum.

Oh, can you imagine a disgustinger sight

than a man eating fruitcake until he is tight?"

And

"We never eat cookies because they have yeast

and one little taste makes a man like a beast

Oh, can you imagine a greater disgrace

than a man in the gutter with crumbs on his face?"

Joel Adkins

Illiopolis