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Opium crops the right medicine for SA economy

Sep 16, 2015
A fenced-in field of blooming opium poppies in Tasmania.

A fenced-in field of blooming opium poppies in Tasmania.

Our farmers are among the best in the world, and there is no doubt that we have world-beating crop research.

South Australian farmers want the chance to try out new crops and test new technologies. Opium poppies offer an emerging opportunity in SA, but we can’t currently grow it because of State Government regulation.

It’s not going to save the local economy alone, but it provides an example of the type of new thinking needed in SA to get things moving. We need innovation.

The Shadow Minister for Agriculture, David Ridgway, has introduced legislation set to be debated in Parliament next week to allow poppies to be grown in SA. The State Government says it’s “generally supportive” – but isn’t on board yet (see footnote).

Poppies are used to make medicinal “opiates” to help acute and chronic pain. They are grown to make morphine and compounds like thebaine that are used for medications such as Oxycontin. Opiates are unsurpassed for pain relief and come from alkaloids in poppies. Australia already supplies the world’s pharmaceutical companies, mostly from Tasmanian crops.

Anyone that has been hospitalised with acute pain, or lives with ongoing pain, probably takes a derivative from poppy in popular products such as Nurofen Plus or Panadeine Forte. If you get migraines, codeine is essential.

Anyone that has seen someone receiving palliative care can appreciate the importance of morphine in providing relief and quality of life for their loved one.

The word “opium” can induce fear. We think of a dodgy trade where poor farmers in Afghanistan or Colombia supply drug lords with poppies for making heroin; we have visions of small planes and fast boats in the midst of night smuggling drugs destined to kill our kids. The drug is a theme in popular fiction: Sherlock Holmes took morphine recreationally, and opiates are part of the plots of The French Connection, The Godfather and Pulp Fiction.

This is a very different story. Ridgway’s legislation will allow SA farmers to grow legal poppies for companies to make painkilling medicine.

SA was once a leader in crops, but in this area – once again – we follow. Of course, we are playing catch up with Tasmania, the world’s biggest legal producer of opium, which has been growing poppies for more than 40 years. However, Victoria and the Northern Territory are both recent entrants into the market after Tassie’s longstanding  monopoly was broken.

Here is a chance for bipartisan political support to get us back into the game. We desperately need new ideas in SA, and this is a chance to leverage our world beating agricultural capability in a new crop with global demand.

A Hover Fly approaching an opium poppy. Image: AAP/Mary Evans/Ardea/Geoff du Feu

A Hover Fly approaching an opium poppy. Image: AAP/Mary Evans/Ardea/Geoff du Feu

Of course, growing poppies here will be very carefully regulated by government. Growing sites will have to be fenced, and the legislation will include a tight regulatory framework including a system of permits and licences.

In SA, our world beating expertise in crop improvement gives us a chance to improve the yields of poppies for legal drug supply. There are new varieties we can try here too.

Poppies are not genetically modified crops. They are naturally bred. Not only are they clean and green, but they are a major contributor to healthcare. So growing poppy has nothing to do with the unfortunate GM moratorium in SA.

David Ridgway wants us to do new things in SA agriculture. Good for him. We need new ideas and not just in agriculture. However, the reality is that since 1836 agriculture has been a mainstay of our economy.

Here is a chance for us to grow a new crop in SA and leverage our world expertise in yet another market, allowing our farmers to have a go and succeed in a new and exciting way.

One of the unfortunate side-effects of medicines derived from opiates is constipation. So, metaphorically, it has an ironic juxtaposition with where we are at in SA.

This legislation is one small step to towards relieving what might be described as “innovation constipation”.

Note: Agriculture Minister Leon Bignell told InDaily this morning: “I have had several discussions with David Ridgway and I am generally supportive of working together with him on a way to allow the cultivation of poppies in SA. But there are a number of issues that will require discussion with police and the health sector. We are still working through those issues but hope to have a whole of government position soon.”

Michael Gilbert is trained as an engineer and in business. He is the Director of Adelaide Consulting.

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