poppy seed thefts in Kansas City,Missouri stores

[clinton (OP)]

http://m.kmbc.com/news/stealing-poppy-seeds-to-get-high-local-store-puts-product-behind-counter/37401794
Kansas City,Mo
At least one grocery store in the Kansas City metro has pulled poppy seeds from its shelves and placed them behind the counter after they became a target for thieves.

The Lee's Summit Hy-Vee has placed a sign in the spice aisle that says: "Due to high theft, poppy seeds are located at customer service."

"We started looking at our counts, and we were off hundreds," said Hy-Vee Assistant Store Manager Jason Weber.  "We kept running out on the shelf but the sales weren't there.  So we knew they were disappearing."

A little research revealed reports of teens making poppy seed tea as a way to get high.  That sent up a red flag.

"So we moved it up to customer service to keep it monitored and to see who is buying it," Weber said.

University of Kansas Pharmacologist Tama Sawyer said the thefts don't surprise her.

"No, nothing teens do surprise me," Sawyer said.  "if there's a way to misuse and mistreat, your teens are going to be the first to check it out."

But Sawyer adds that the poppy seeds found in most stores are not the kind needed to make the controversial tea.  And it would take pounds of it to create a morphine effect that would likely lead to vomiting and diarrhea before anything else.

"It would be a waste of money and have horrible effects for probably no high whatsoever," Sawyer said.

But Sawyer said that finding a stash of poppy seeds in your child's room should be a red flag.

"If you're finding things like this it is cause for concern and a conversation at the very least," Sawyer said.

There have been studies that show that poppy seed tea can become addictive, but it would take a lot of seeds and tea.  There have been no reports of poppy seed abuse locally.

[clinton (OP)]

If they aren't doing anything then why are they continually being stolen ? I'm happy that the pharmacologist they interviewed is clueless in regards to the subject at hand ..

[robojunkie]

Nothing to see here folks, keep it moving...its all just a big fraternity prank.

[Thoms]

And so it begins....

[Morfy]

Along the highway between Green Bay and Iron Mountain, Michigan most of the poppy seeds are behind the counter.


Being a distinguished anus that I am, they still let me buy 3 lbs of seeds any way.  Cause I'msa baking, dontcha know?


But I am not stealing the seeds, which I think is the pointy=point.

[dizzle]

Robo/Thoms that was exactly my thought.

[Narkotikon]

I've not bought them there in almost four years, but the same thing happened to one of the local GFS's near me.

I went in one a few years ago to, gasp!, buy actual food, and I happened to walk down the aisle with all the spices. Not one single jar of seeds on the shelf. There wasn't even a tag listing poppy seeds anymore. It seemed like they just quit carrying them.

As much as I dislike moral stores and vendors (what do you care what I do with the seeds as long as I'm paying for them!), shady shit like this from tea heads is equally damaging.

PEOPLE!!!!!!!,if you want seeds to remain legal and available, pay for them! And don't post stupidly obvious posts / reviews on the internet!

We don't need to know how high you got, or if you almost OD'd on your current batch of tea. Have some discretion! Just give the seeds a 10+ rating and move on! Drawing attention isn't a good thing if you want to continue using seeds for this purpose.

[Zoops]

yeah, no shit.

Every time I try to make tea with those damn seeds, it don't do nothing! Im'ma keep on trying at it though. I'll hit it juuuust right one day, and then it'll be on, suckas!

[Smacky-Doodle 2.0]

yeah, no shit.

Every time I try to make tea with those damn seeds, it don't do nothing! Im'ma keep on trying at it though. I'll hit it juuuust right one day, and then it'll be on, suckas!

That's EXACTLY what I thought when reading this.  You sure are a huge advocate of PST for it not to be doing anything.  Maybe it's all in your head?

On the other hand, it's probably a good thing that dude interviewed was clueless.  But you can bet that there are those out there who are hip to your 'baking' requirements.

I hope nothing comes of it....a lot of people would be screwed without their tea.

[Guts]

If you think about it, it's quite a funny loop hole... I mean the shit is so tightly regulated... yet right there at the grocery store there it is.