Most cases I have read about, if police, etc, (authorities) notice you are growing them as ornamentals and it bothers them, or anyone else, sometimes they just ask you to get rid of them. They just are not likely to arrest the old lady growing a treasured heirloom! The irony is the Pink Peony variety sold by Ferry-Morse Seeds is sold in the seed rack at a local Military Base, pretty much every Spring. Most people are clueless they are actually Opium Poppies - and they certainly are not growing them for anything but their beauty!!