posted on April 20, 2005 10:23:43 AM new
I was reading the news this morning about some internet pharmacies that were busted for shipping illegal drugs and I came across this story. I used to sell poppy pods in my craft section but it never occured to me that people could get high on them. I didn't realize that some may purchase them on ebay for all the wrong reasons and I doubt anyone will want to try after reading this guy's story.
March 31 2005
Cover Story
Confessions of an EBay opium addict
Looking for drugs on the cheap, a writer found poppy pods available on the Web. He also found himself hooked.
"There were online pharmacies on the Internet. I ordered Tramadol from Mexico and Nurofen Plus with the legal max 12.8 milligrams of codeine per tablet from New Zealand. Then that got tougher.
Finally, I found eBay. I had been looking for old motel stationery and fake Jackson Pollock drip paintings. They sold everything--why not drugs?
I typed “poppy pods” into the search bar.
Like anyone trolling the Internet at 4 a.m., I had been looking for some kind of temporary drug fix.
I found it on eBay under Crafts>Floral Supplies>Flowers, Foliage>Dried.
Crafting. Sure. I liked art.
A query turned up all sizes and quantities of poppies. Some, called gigantheums, were as big as tennis balls. A special of “600 XXL-sized gigantheums” was selling for $399. Fortunately, for crafting projects requiring so many poppy plants, financing was available for $17 per month.
For all of us hard-core flower arrangers, of course."
