bit_pattern
Ex-Bluelighter
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- Oct 17, 2008
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Harvesting of opium poppy crops is underway at a number of trial sites in Victoria, as demand for opiates used in painkillers increases.
Until now, Tasmania has been the only Australian state to grow commercial crops of poppies for use by pharmaceutical companies, with poppies grown in Tasmania accounting for about half of the global opiates market.
There have been trial crops of poppies grown in the Northern Territory and Victoria in the past year. Harvesting of the trial crops is now underway at a number of sites in Victoria.
The Victorian Government has moved to introduce legislation to allow commercial crops of poppies to be grown in the state, opening the way for the industry to expand to the mainland.
Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, which already grows poppies in Tasmania, planted six trial sites across Victoria last year, and expects to expand its trials this year, with the hope of having commercial crops growing in the state as soon as possible.
The company's general manager of opiates, Steve Morris, says Australia is the single largest source country for the production of poppies, and expanding into Victoria will help his company secure market share as demand for drugs like morphine and codeine increases.
"With the competitors coming along strongly, we need to make sure that our supply is as secure as it can be, and secondly, that we keep our costs under control.
"And certainly, we can only do that if we have the growers to call on in Tasmania and now in Victoria hopefully," Mr Morris said.
He says demand for opiate products has been growing at a rate of about 10 per cent a year for the past decade and is anticipated to continue grow at the same rate into the future.
"The increased use of basic painkilling drugs in the developing world is one main growth driver.
"We've got to make sure that we are in the right position to ensure that we are there to meet that growth."
Mr Morris says by expanding into Victoria the company can increase production, as well as protecting against some of the risks posed by having all their crop growing in one location.
"Tasmania is a very productive place to grow poppies but it has had weather issues, as has many other places, so expanding into Victoria gives us protection against exposure to that single geography of Tasmania.
"Victoria does offer quite a wide range of geographic and climatic conditions, so it really is a way to reduce the risk of Tasmania.
"If you go into the northern Murray River regions of Victoria that are irrigated they are quite different to Tasmania and give us that quite distinctive risk management tool."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-15/nrn-poppy-expansion/5201210
Until now, Tasmania has been the only Australian state to grow commercial crops of poppies for use by pharmaceutical companies, with poppies grown in Tasmania accounting for about half of the global opiates market.
There have been trial crops of poppies grown in the Northern Territory and Victoria in the past year. Harvesting of the trial crops is now underway at a number of sites in Victoria.
The Victorian Government has moved to introduce legislation to allow commercial crops of poppies to be grown in the state, opening the way for the industry to expand to the mainland.
Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, which already grows poppies in Tasmania, planted six trial sites across Victoria last year, and expects to expand its trials this year, with the hope of having commercial crops growing in the state as soon as possible.
The company's general manager of opiates, Steve Morris, says Australia is the single largest source country for the production of poppies, and expanding into Victoria will help his company secure market share as demand for drugs like morphine and codeine increases.
"With the competitors coming along strongly, we need to make sure that our supply is as secure as it can be, and secondly, that we keep our costs under control.
"And certainly, we can only do that if we have the growers to call on in Tasmania and now in Victoria hopefully," Mr Morris said.
He says demand for opiate products has been growing at a rate of about 10 per cent a year for the past decade and is anticipated to continue grow at the same rate into the future.
"The increased use of basic painkilling drugs in the developing world is one main growth driver.
"We've got to make sure that we are in the right position to ensure that we are there to meet that growth."
Mr Morris says by expanding into Victoria the company can increase production, as well as protecting against some of the risks posed by having all their crop growing in one location.
"Tasmania is a very productive place to grow poppies but it has had weather issues, as has many other places, so expanding into Victoria gives us protection against exposure to that single geography of Tasmania.
"Victoria does offer quite a wide range of geographic and climatic conditions, so it really is a way to reduce the risk of Tasmania.
"If you go into the northern Murray River regions of Victoria that are irrigated they are quite different to Tasmania and give us that quite distinctive risk management tool."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-15/nrn-poppy-expansion/5201210
