6 ms·
This is not an accurate story. Monticello had for a while been concerned about the legality of growing the plant and selling the seeds. They first contacted the
by tssva 3y ago
This is not an accurate story. Monticello had for a while been concerned about the legality of growing the plant and selling the seeds. They first contacted the Department of Agriculture and the Virginia Attorney General regarding this question. They didn't receive clear guidance, so they then reached out to the DEA regarding the legality. The DEA told them it was illegal but also released a public statement that no enforcement action would take place if they grew them solely for decorative purposes on the estate. Monticello made the decision to go ahead and remove the plants anyways on their own.
- BowBun 3y agoSharing a source linked below that confirms this comment and seems to disprove the article posted - https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1991/rt9104/910419/04190796.htm https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1991/rt9...
- hn_throwaway_99 3y agoYou mean some raving diatribe on the Internet is actually total bullshit? Shocking! In all seriousness, thanks very much for your post, it's the kind of informative content that I really appreciate about HN. At the same time, this blog post gets to everything I hate about the Internet and online discourse these days: nobody even attempts to argue in good faith anymore. US drug policy over the past century is rife with plenty enough problems that you don't need to blatantly make shit up to get your point across, as this author did.
- celtoid 3y agoI was living in Charlottesville at the time and I remember this. Charlottesville had just made national news because of a huge drug bust at UVa (Operation Equinox). Monticello was covering its bases.
- BeetleB 3y agoAh, Alternet. I didn't realize they still existed. When I was a news junkie it was one of my sources of information - until I started digging deep and learned how inaccurate it often was.
- cwkoss 3y agoThe DEA is not a good source of legal advice. It is legal to grow Papaver somniferum in the United States for garden and seed production purposes.
- sidewndr46 3y agoNot only is the DEA not a source of legal advice in any capacity, they can lie to you if directed to. Monticello stopped growing poppies because they asked their legal counsel and they said "yeah that's a fast track to jail"
- tssva 3y agoMonticello contacted, I'm sure through their legal counsel, the Department of Agriculture which indicated growing the poppies in question was legal and the Attorney General of Virginia's office who indicated that the law was contridictary and unclear. This when they then contacted the DEA for an opinion.
- sidewndr46 3y agoif you're talking about the USDA, it's irrelevant. You might as well ask a cow it's opinion on whether prime rib or sirloin is better. USDA does not prosecute drug crimes. The USDA could also just as easily lie to you if they wanted to.
- tssva 3y agoThe USDA does have primary federal law enforcement power for National Forests including drug crimes, but that is irrelevant to this discussion. The FDA not the DEA is the primary regulator and enforcement agency for poppy seeds intended for human consumption. The USDA is the primary regulator of seeds intended for planting. Since the seeds being sold at Monticello were sold with the intended for use in the planting of poppies, when surveying for opinions it seems an appropriate agency to get one from.
- hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
- TigeriusKirk 3y agoInterestingly, the wikipedia article for papaver somniferum includes the op version of the story, linking to op as a source. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papaver_somniferum#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papaver_somniferum#History
- garbagecoder 3y agoThank you. Also, the headline is self-contradictory. How could it be scrubbed from public memory and then there's an article. Maybe they tried? But apparently that's not really true either.
- mrguyorama 3y agoThe alternative facts news-sphere ALWAYS plays the "HERES WHAT THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW but for some reason a random dude on the internet totally uncovered this top secret situation but he doesn't even work for the air national guard or use discord"
- garbagecoder 3y agoas a former (army) nasty girl I sincerely appreciate your mildly pejorative use of the air national guard. (;
- mrguyorama 3y agoI meant it as a reference to the kid leaking intelligence secrets for discord clout
- garbagecoder 3y agooh, right. well I still appreciate it (;