is poppy seed/pod tea worth trying?
bear in mind I don't use any other opiates and codeine doesn't seem to work for me
It can be, but as mentioned above the potency can vary from 'fuck all' to 'death' if you don't know your source. IME the safest and most reliable method is to source some good seeds (some research required here) and grow your own. 50 or so plants can comfortably be grown in an area 6 feet square and if you use the multi headed varieties this can bring in a harvest of 200 - 300 pods easily. Let them mature thoroughly - i.e. wait until the petals drop and the crowns open up fully. Don't bother scoring the pods for the latex - it's time consuming, wasteful, largely ineffective in our climate and could get you busted for opium production.
Once the crowns have fully opened (obviously this will happen at staggered intervals) snip the pods off including a few inches of stalk, shake out the seeds (you'll harvest an absolute fuckton which can be used for next year's crop) and allow the pods to dry in a cool airy place. None of this is illegal (yet) and if people get nosy you can just say you want them for dried flower arrangements.
Now for the illegal part. Once the pods have thoroughly dried and become hard and brittle, discard any which have become mouldy then select 3 or 4 pods of an average size.
Snap off the stalks and either discard or put to one side for future use. The stalks do contain alkaloids but are harder to process than just using the pods.
Break or grind the pods into small pieces (I use scissors then a pestle and mortar) and dump into a small saucepan.
Fill a mug with hot but not boiling water from a kettle, pour over the ground pods, place on the stove top on low heat and simmer for 20 minutes or so without boiling. Add a squirt of lemon juice at this stage - I don't know if this affects the potency but it vastly improves the taste
Strain the grounds out (I find a fine mesh sieve perfectly adequate for this - some small grounds will get through but they taste inoffensive and you don't have to fuck about pre-wetting filters), then drink. The grounds can be used for a second mash as well, which imo is well worth doing.
If this doesn't achieve the desired results, slowly increase the dosage on subsequent attempts.
I personally find around 7 to 8 walnut sized pods to be quite effective, and makes quite a pleasant drink very similar to lemon tea.
I have achieved some very pleasant and medicinal effects using this method - even getting a decent gouch. You just need to start off low and find your sweet spot. Overdo it with no tolerance and you can end up in trouble...
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