Opium Poppy Control Act

Before World War II, few people in the continental United States grew the poppy seeds from which opium is cultivated. America imported poppy seeds from Europe, particularly from the Netherlands and Poland. On average, 3,000 tons were shipped to the United States per year; in 1938, the year before Hitler invaded Poland, approximately 4,400 tons were shipped to the United States. Once war broke out on the European continent, the shipments of poppy seeds to America ceased. This cessation of trade resulted in a stark rise in the price of opium, from $0.07 a pound to $0.50 a pound. The market soon responded to the overwhelming demand for poppy seeds. Beginning in late 1939, many American farmers, particularly in California, cultivated poppy seeds. Although opium was one product that could be produced from the poppy seeds, many were used as food items for both humans and plants.

Opium had long been present in America, although the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics was not overly concerned with the drug in the 1930s. There is, however, a significant history of anti-opium legislation within the United States, where such laws as the Smoking Opium Exclusion Act (1909), the Harrison Act (1914), and the Heroin Act (1924) either required that producers of opium register with the federal government, or, in the case of the Heroin Act, explicitly outlawed certain opiate-derived drugs. Despite these various laws, farmers continued to produce the poppy seeds from which opium could be made.

The Bureau of Narcotics, for its part, attempted to discourage poppy cultivation throughout the 1930s. During this decade, the bureau received several requests for information regarding poppy cultivation. In each case the individual asking the question received a response that attempted to discourage poppy growing by emphasizing that regulatory [Page 617]structures that would have to be dealt with to become a legal poppy grower.

However, the outbreak of war created new financial incentives for opium production. In April 1941 a California seed company that had earlier asked for permission to grow poppy seeds but had been discouraged by the bureau informed this organization that other companies and local farmers had begun to grow significant amounts of poppy seed. This increase in poppy seed production propelled an opium explosion. In response to this increase in opium availability, the bureau ordered an investigation into the situation of poppy production in California. By strangling poppy production, the Bureau of Narcotics hoped to damage opium production.

This investigation revealed that the center of poppy growing in California was the Santa Maria Valley, located in Northern Santa Barbara County and San Luis Obispo County. This valley is incredibly fertile. Presently, the valley is dominated by vineyards. In the 1930s, the valley was primarily used for the cultivation of vegetables and flowers, including poppy seeds; indeed, poppy seeds had been grown in the region for years, one plant among many. However, once the price of poppy seeds increased as their availability decreased, local farmers began to grow more and different varieties of the poppy seeds. These seeds were by no means all used for drugs; many were used as food sources. By 1941, 181 acres of land were devoted to poppy seed cultivation.

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