| The Poppy Paradox (3044 words) |
 | Opium poppies have a rich and storied history nearly 5,000 years long, one that has swung from almost universal acceptance of opium use, in which wars were fought to preserve its trade, to its condemnation on moral grounds at the dawn of the 20th century. |
| That "set of myths" was the portrayal of opium poppies as an exotic plant grown only in the Far East, from which opium was mysteriously extracted, not a common flower easily grown anywhere in the United States, from which a child could extract opium with his or her fingernail. |
| Poppies became big news locally in May, both with the raid of the McLean's home and the discovery of several acres of opium poppies growing wild in Montana de Oro, which were removed by Narcotics Task Force agents. |
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