Poppy Seeds in Tasmania

July is the time for the sowing season for opium poppies in Australia mainland and Tasmania. It is prime time for planting them, so that in November, their shells are left behind with the poppy seeds that are oh so famous. At this point, there is a latex that surrounds them, which dries two months later when it's ready to be harvested. When this occurs, the poppy seeds and latex are separated and the seeds get taken to be processed for foods, whereas the latex gets ground up to be extracted for its valuable narcotic alkaloids. Tasmania is actually the start of a global business which profits $12 billion a year in opiate painkillers. Half a century of breeding and good climate has made this plant something the state can benefit from financially. It grows 85% of the world's chemical that is used to make OxyContin. Another chemical is produces, though, is used to treat heroine overdoses as well as other kinds of addictions. The downside of this is that it also makes most of the world's morphine and codeine, which are two extreme painkillers that are widely used illegally. The companies running these productions are trying to make it so that they can cultivate better, genetically modified poppies in the mainland. On one hand, they want to do this in order to increase profit, but on the other, they are against it because it can contribute to a rising global drug abuse problem. This industry can be tracked back to Tasmania all the way until the 1950's. Through the world wars, there was a huge use of mophine to aid soldiers who were injured, but they kept running out since there wasn't a huge supply. As a result, they started coming up with better ways to extract it and with it came the production of heroine. Through the years now, it has come to be more controlled since the companies that work with the poppy seeds have limited the industries they supply.

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