Flowerloving grandmother grows opium at home

ROME (Reuter) An octogenarian Italian grandmother with a penchant for
gardening was charged with narcotics possession Tuesday when police found
opium plants in her garden.

Police said the woman, 80, who was not named, began ripping up some of the 13
plants when she saw the police. The plants, each about five feet tall, were
verified as opium plants at Rome's botanical gardens.

The woman said someone had given her the seeds as a gift and she planted them
because she loved flowers.