Buy poppy plants

The very first day we went to our high school history class, one Monday morning at 12:00 o’clock we knew our teacher was weird… and special. He looked like normal, but, there was something strange about him, something nobody in the class could define. No matter the topic we were dealing with, when the bell rang he immediately said to us things like this: “The opium poppy was cultivated in lower Mesopotamia. The Sumerians refer to it as Hul Gil, the joy plant”. If someone of you wants to buy poppy plants, keep this in mind.

At the end of our third history class, on Wednesday, the teacher said:”Hippocrates, ‘the father of medicine’, dismisses the magical attributes of opium but acknowledges its usefulness as a narcotic and styptic in treating internal diseases, diseases of women and epidemics”. That is what you can get if you buy poppy plants, he finished his cite pointing at us with a finger while taking his suitcase.

On Friday, we were anxiously waiting our first weekend out of school. But the teacher was calmly waiting to tell us one more of his on-the-making legendary cites: “Opium disappeared for two hundred years from European historical records. Opium had become a taboo subject for those in circles of learning during the Holy Inquisition. In the eyes of the Inquisition, anything from the East (where poppy growing supposedly started) was linked to the Devil”. If someone of you is going to buy poppy plants to experiment its effect, remember that the Devil is going to be with you. This time it was not an advice it was a clear warning. Most of us felt uncomfortable with this everyday situation. He was not our father or mother, not even the principal! “Just who do you think you are, everybody’s father?” a classmate whispered. I am sure the teacher listened to what my classmate said because he made a full stop then continued walking as if nothing had happened.

The Monday class was almost finished and the teacher seemed to have nothing to say this time, we were wrong. He saw his wristwatch and started: “Friedrich Serturner of Paderborn discovered the active ingredient of opium by dissolving it in acid then neutralizing it with ammonia. The result: alkaloids. Morphine is lethal if used in high doses think twice before going to buy poppy plants”. This time he looked at everyone’s eyes. We were paralysed because of the way he said it. He looked angry and explained his behaviour: “Boys, I am not everybody’s father, he said looking to the classmate who had whispered. I was a blind father who had a drug addict son right under my nose, he died and I did not know what was happening to him”. He took his suitcase and left the classroom. The next day we were waiting the “daily cite”; the six day habit had died. The teacher limited himself to give history classes.