One of the more amusing stories I've found (some time ago) on the topic (below)!
Unfortunately the article is rather dated (2017) i.e. things could very well have changed by now (in reference to the statistics and prices).
"In one case in Oregon, a forest patrol officer stumbled across a plot of poppies in a remote area. Initially, he went to check them out because he thought the scarlet blooms would make a nice bouquet for his wife. On closer inspection, he realized the plants were suspicious."
Despite a massive opioid-addiction epidemic, few people try to grow opium in the United States.
www.livescience.com
And then there's this genius:
"One of our narcotics investigators came to the house looking for something else," Catawba County Sheriff Coy Reid told the Hickory Daily Record. "When he knocked on the door, the guys said, 'I guess you’re here about the opium.'"
The plants, which are used to make opium, morphine and heroin, were found on an acre of land near the town of Claremont, some 40 miles north of Charlotte.
www.nbcnews.com
Needless to say the sensationalized figure of $500 million has been analysed and debunked in the previous article (above) as posted i.e.
"Estimated yields of heroin from raw opium are between 6 percent and 10 percent. Thus, the acre of poppies found in North Carolina would yield a little more than 13 lbs. (6 kg) of raw opium and 1.3 lbs. (0.6 kg) of heroin in a full growing season in the best of circumstances." And that 100% correct calculations as per DEA reports and figures released from time to time.
Dunno about Australia. But wherever you are here's your problem(s) right here:
23 January 2009 - On 23 January 1912, the International Opium Convention was signed in the Hague by representatives from China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Persia (Iran), Portugal, Russia, Siam (Thailand), the UK and the British oversees territories (including British India)...
www.unodc.org
And the above eventually led to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (all courtesy of the United Nations).
And then there's this outfit:
International Narcotics Control Board Web Site
www.incb.org
A little bit of history and some updated information and some interesting reading (check out the entire site):
For more than ten years, TNI’s Drugs & Democracy programme has been studying the UN drug control conventions and the institutional architecture of the UN drug control regime. As we approach the 2016 UNGASS, this primer is a tool to better understand the role of these conventions, the scope and...
www.tni.org
And all of the above before you even get do dealing with your local drug law enforcement agency.
And to put this idea into perspective (notwithstanding the above issues):
Just how big is one acre of land? I'd like to show you in this article using comparison pictures from easily-understood things.
campersmarts.com
As if that's not enough check this out:
Multilingual Dictionary of Precursors and Chemicals
www.unodc.org
"Red List" updated as at January 2021 (PDF document):
No need to despair though i.e. if you've got the backing (capital) and the space hydroponics is a viable, if not a preferred, option (notwithstanding the required precursors that is). I mention "preferred" for the simple reason that Mother Nature is unpredictable at best nowadays. If you think you won't lose your shit after nursing poppies for three months only to find them getting washed away or fucked for reasons beyond your control: think again. It's not like the occasional bud that may get too heavy and fall over after some hard rain or hail (I've seen one or two right here that have lost their shit because of this!
).
