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dried poppies
Author of Opium for the Masses Arrested for Possessing Poppies
by Richard Glen Boire
copyright (c) 1997 Richard Glen Boire
from The Entheogen Law Reporter Issue No. 11
On March 6, 1996, just before 7:00p.m., Jim Hogshire, the author of Opium for the Masses was inside his apartment when over a dozen members of the Seattle Police Department Narcotics Unit burst in with a search warrant authorizing a search of the apartment for:
…Opium, heroin, methamphetamine cocaine, marijuana, and other controlled substances; chemical compounds used to make the aforementioned controlled substances; items used to weigh, package and prepare controlled substances for sale, distribution and use, records of sales and customers indicative of narcotics trafficking; articles of personal property tending to establish the identity of person(s) in control of the premises, vehicles or storage areas, where controlled substances may be found, to include, but not limited to, notes, records, photographs, video tapes, ledgers, receipts, address books, phone books, bank statements, safety deposit rental agreements, safety deposit box keys, and other papers relating to transporting, ordering, purchasing, abuse and distribution of controlled substances; US currency, proceeds from the sale of controlled substances and other financial instruments, including but not limited to, checks, money orders, money drafts, wire transfer orders, deposit slips, records indicating he transfer of real estate and/or real property, high value jewelry and precious metals or stones reflecting the proceeds of trafficking controlled substances; weapons and or firearms used to protect said money, proceeds and controlled substances; items used for communication in the business of narcotics trafficking, including but not limited to, telephone pagers, cellular telephones, police radio scanners, computer equipment, storage media and recording tapes from telephone answering machines.
Mr. Hogshire was handcuffed as was his wife, Heidi, who walked into the scene upon returning from a visit to the supermarket.
As a result of the search, the officers seized a "sealed cardboard box containing approximately 2,200 grams of dry plant material" believed to be dried poppies, as well as "a jar containing many different types of unidentified prescription pills." According to Jim Hogshire, the "sealed cardboard box" holding "dry plant material" was a florist's box containing cellophane-wrapped long-stem dried poppies. Also, seized were 3 balance scales, a number of weapons, and some photographs which officers said "depict James Hogshire extracting Opiate liquid from Opium Poppy pods." In the Hogshire's living room, the officers found and seized "many books which detail recipes and techniques for manufacturing such controlled substances as methamphetamine," as well as "small pipes and tubes commonly used for smoking narcotic drugs." The Hogshires were taken to jail and spent three days in custody before being bailed out. dried poppies...
The alleged events leading up to the search of the Hogshire's apartment were described by the Seattle police officer who wrote the affidavit filed in support of the search warrant. The affidavit tells the following strange story:
…I received a letter from a man named Robert Black, New York. The letter complained about narcotics activity being conducted by Jim and Heidi Hogshire in their apartment… I wrote Mr. Black a letter asking him to call me. Immediately upon receiving my letter Mr. Black called me. Black gave me his address and phone number so I could contact him in the future. I talked to Black about the allegations in his letter. Black told me he was in Jim and Heidi Hogshire's apartment for approximately 14 hours on February 10 and 11, 1996.
Black is a freelance writer and graduate student at Albany NY. [Bob Black is probably best known as the author of The Abolition of Work. RGB] He was hired by a New York start-up magazine to write an article about a publishing company in Port Townsend, Washington. The publishing company is called Loompanicks. Loompanicks publishes books with a libertarian perspective, this was to be Black's angle for his article.
Black wanted to see Seattle and save money on airfare by flying in on the weekend. A person at Loompanicks suggested Black fly in on the weekend (February 10 and 11) and then come to Port Townsend on Monday, February 13, 1996. It was suggested that Black stay with a man who had written several books published by Loompanicks. This man's name was Jim Hogshire. Arrangements were made for Jim and his wife Heidi Hogshire to pick Black up at the airport and host him in their apartment for the weekend. Loompanicks sent Black some of Hogshire's books and a magazine he produces to give him some background - one of the books was entitled Opium for the Masses. dried poppies
On Saturday, February 10, 1996, Heidi picked Black up at the airport at about noon. In the car they talked about Opium for the Masses. Heidi said the recipe for the opium tea "really works." She said, "I get high off of one cup, it takes Jim a lot more though."
They drove to the Hogshire's apartment,…where Robert [Black] met Jim. Soon Black noticed that Hogshire was heavily under the influence of drugs. Black stated that he has known drug addicts in the past, but never anyone whose "life was so wound around drugs." Hogshire offered Black opium teas. Black said he knew about the opium teas and was not "dumbfounded" by the offer. Black declined the tea and Hogshire made some for himself by putting a dark brown substance into water and boiling it. Black told me that Hogshire "continuously drank" opium tea for approximately 14 hours.
Black noticed an interesting device in the apartment. Hogshire said it was a vacuum pump and bragged that he could extract "something real exciting" from Sudafed. Black got the impression that Hogshire meant he could get something to help him make drugs.
Black asked Hogshire about his beliefs in libertarianism. Hogshire expressed a strong commitment to the principle. As if to emphasize the strength of his beliefs, Hogshire picked up a rifle which was leaning against a wall near his desk and computer. Hogshire told Black it was an M-1 rifle.
During the evening Hogshire chewed up some pills. Hogshire told Black the pills were Ritalin. In addition, Hogshire snorted a white powder which Hogshire said was Dexedrine.
At approximately 2:00 a.m., on Sunday February 11, the conversation between Black and Jim Hogshire turned to religion. Hogshire said he was a fundamentalist Muslim and the conversation became very heated. It escalated until Hogshire grabbed the M-1 rifle, aimed it at Black's face, and ordered him out of the apartment. Black left. Black told me he did not call the police at the time because he didn't think he could prove what happened. At the time Hogshire's wife and a friend were in the apartment and Black believed they would support Hogshire.
Black described the apartment as a one bedroom; he described the apartment as very messy; and he stated that he believed the Hogshires paid about $800 per month rent.
Black described Jim Hogshire as very thin. He said he only saw Hogshire eat potato chips while he was in the house. In a addition, Black said Hogshire kept food supplements (e.g., "Ensure") in his house to eat. Hogshire told Black he really wasn't interested in eating.
I read part of one of the books written by Jim Hogshire which is entitled Opium for the Masses. This book, in part, describes a process for making opium tea by first removing the seeds from opium pods, then grinding the pods in a coffee grinder and boiling the matter. The actual pods are boiled not the seeds. The book says people should save seeds to grow more poppies. It further describes the process of evaporating the water from opium tea to make opium.
I talked to SPD Narcotics Lieutenant Jerry Adams and to DEA Special Agent Andy Smith; they said that ephedrine could be extracted from Sudafed by using a vacuum pump. Ephedrine is a controlled substance and a precursor to methamphetamine. Ritalin and Dexedrine are prescription drugs. They are both amphetamines in the same family of drug as methamphetamine.
[The affidavit then states that the Hogshire's apartment manager "smelled a strong chemical odor that seemed to be coming from the Hogshire's apartment" about two months earlier. "The apartment manager also said that the apartment was a one bedroom and that it was pretty messy."]
I checked Hogshire's name with SPD records and learned that patrol officers contacted him on January 14, 1996. Hogshire's car was illegally parked… Two bicycle patrol officers came by. The officers looked into the car and noticed what looked like chemicals stacked on the back seat. Just then, Hogshire came out carrying a box and began talking with the officers. Hogshire said they were chemicals in his car and that he used them for a hobby. The officer states in his report that he asked what kind of experiments Hogshire did and Hogshire "couldn't tell him." In addition, Hogshire said he did not know what the various chemicals were specifically used for in his experiments. Finally, Jim Hogshire stated that his wife Heidi never did the experiments with him. But when Heidi arrived and was interviewed separately she said that she did "little experiments" with him "all the time." The officer asked Heidi what kind of experiments they did and she could not tell him.
Narcotics detectives…responded to the scene. They spoke with Jim Hogshire and he admitted that many of the chemicals "could be used in the production of methamphetamine," but he denied producing it himself. The detectives noticed writings in the warehouse about the production of illegal drugs.
The patrol officers noted in their report…that Hogshire was in possession of the following chemicals: nitric acid, acetone, charcoal, hydrochloric acid. In addition, the official noted that Hogshire was in possession of an electronic scale. I spoke with DEA Special Agent Andy Smith about these chemicals and he said they could be used to make heroin from opium.
Based on the dried poppies found in the aapartment, Jim Hogshire was charged with violating the Washington state law outlawing the possession of opium poppies with the intent to manufacture or deliver them. In addition, because the police found some guns in the Hogshire's apartment, the prosecutor alleged that in the commission of the above crime Mr. Hogshire was "armed with a deadly weapon." Heidi Hogshire was charged with simple possession of "Opium poppies." Neither Jim Hogshire nor Heidi Hogshire have any previous convictions for drug-related offenses.
The Hogshire's attorney filed a motion to dismiss the charges on the ground that there was insufficient evidence that the Hogshires were in possession of Papaver somniferum, the only species of poppy outlawed under Washington state law (as well as under federal law and the laws of the other 49 states). Evidently, during the hearing on the motion to dismiss, the prosecutor, apparently unfamiliar with Marx's well-known aphorism which Mr. Hogshire adapted for the title of his book, argued that Jim Hogshire did indeed intend to distribute the poppies found in his home, because "…his book is titled Opium for the Masses, not Opium for Me!"
The judge rejected the prosecutor's arguments and found insufficient evidence that Jim Hogshire manufactured (i.e., grew) the poppies found in the florist's box in his home, and also found insufficient evidence that Mr. Hogshire intended to distribute the poppies. Consequently, the judge dismissed the charges against Jim Hogshire. The prosecutor, however, is threatening to re-file charges of simple possession against Jim Hogshire as are currently pending against Heidi Hogshire.
The case against the Hogshires is disquieting. How much of this prosecution is driven by the fact that Jim Hogshire is a relatively well-known author whose books challenge conventional notions with regard to drugs? Jim Hogshire's writings figured prominently in the search warrant affidavit, and were used by the prosecutor in arguing that Jim Hogshire intended to distribute the poppies.
It seems to me that there is a very good argument here that the Hogshires are the victims of unlawful selective prosecution, probably because of Jim Hogshire's writings. In addition to Opium for the Masses and a number of other books, Jim Hogshire has written articles which have appeared in magazines like Harpers, Esquire and Gentlemens Quarterly. He is also the publisher of Pills-A-Go-Go, a 'zine set to be anthologized as the book Pharmaceutical Nation. I wonder how many other people the Seattle Narcotics team has arrested for possessing store-bought poppies? Have any florists been raided or arrested for selling them?
I am aware of one other publicized arrest for poppies. It also involved a relatively well-known person, Michael Butler, the producer of the musical Hair. On July 9, 1975, Santa Barbara County sheriff's deputies, armed with a search warrant, seized approximately 3000 poppy plants growing outside Mr. Butler's bedroom on his luxurious Santa Barbara estate. Evidently, many of the four-foot-high plants had their pods scribed, and other evidence was found inside the estate indicating that someone was processing the poppies. Butler's attorney said his client had no idea that opium could be extracted from the poppies found growing on his property. To him they were simply nice red flowers. According to Butler's attorney, the poppy patch was planted by the estate's gardeners to form a decorative protective barrier around a tree threatened by ivy. The charges against Michael Butler were dismissed after the search warrant was held invalid.
In addition to the selective prosecution argument in the Hogshire's case, a decent argument exists that the search warrant should be quashed because the affidavit failed to state probable cause that opium or any other controlled substances would be found in the Hogshire's apartment on March 6, 1996. Bob Black reported that he saw Jim Hogshire prepare and drink opium tea. Mr. Black said nothing to suggest that poppies, poppy extract, or poppy tea (or any other controlled substances) remained in the apartment. The information about finding various legal chemicals in Jim Hogshire's car was three months old, and even when fresh was insufficient for arrest. Finally, the officers seem to have done a very poor job of corroborating Bob Black's allegations, something which should be done anytime there is the hint that an informant is acting out of a sense of revenge.
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