I don't believe a licence is required to grow any part of the opium poppy. I assume the reason for this is that until the opium is extracted and processed into POM or heroin they are benign eg culinary and ornamental. The process is fairly complicated and requires knowledge and other chemicals which are not widely available. Conversely it is illegal to grow cannabis plants. I assume because they have no benign purpose. The reason they are grown is to produce cannabis which is illegal and it is simple to convert the plant for use eg smoking.
I am not suggesting WHF was in financial difficulty. It is often said it was very profitable but I haven't seen the accounts to know whether it was or it wasn't. I was just pointing out NB was not cash rich as he had a 120k bank overdraft at the time of his death. This was cleared by selling two of the flats. Mind you 31 years ago 120k was a lot of cash which other than the extremely wealthy most were unlikely to have sitting around in a bank account. NB also purchased 48.5 acres at Little Renters. He payed £2,000 per acre so a total of £97,000. June contributed £25,000 cash and NB took out a loan of £72,000 to cover the remainder but according to JB this had almost been paid for at the time of NB's death. This loan might have qualified for tax relief against loan payments so there might have been some benefit of taking out a loan even if the cash was available.
I have read the above in WS's but sometimes it's easier to quote CAL who I think we all agree is a reliable source as all her claims are backed up with WS's etc: Pages 101 and 102.
Page 101 of CAL:
"Profits had risen considerably due to the crop diversity, including cultivation of plants for the pharmaceutical companies". &%+((£
JB was interviwed about his concerns about June leaving her estate to charity. I think ? MM said something along those lines too? However CAL Page 288, interview with BC, apparently JB was unhappy about June giving her money out of income to the church as opposed to leaving any or all of her estate to the church. The reason being that "the farm needed so much". Please bear in mind that June suffered mental illness and delusions surrounding her religious beliefs. If June was giving away substantial amounts of her income to the church at the expense of the upkeep of the farm was this in the farms interest?
The opium poppies were unlikely to be eligible for EU subsidies. From all the info available online it doesn't appear there's any history of UK farmers exporting opium poppies overseas for pharmaceutical companies. If indeed it was legal to do so. We know for a fact opium poppy production for the pharmaceutical industry didn't go live in this country until 2006.
Yes other farmers could have legally grown opium poppies for seeds or ornamental purposes but was this profitable. When I said NB had the means to grow opium poppies I was meaning most individuals do not have available land to grow opium poppies on a large scale.
I think most people realise opium poppies produce morphine (and heroin)? The world's main grower of opium poppies is Afghanistan. Due to the many conflicts in that country it is often in the papers and on the news.
We don't know there was only a small field. All we know is that Dr Craig and Chief Sup Harris looked at a small area of a field where the opium poppies were growing. This could mean the poppies were restricted to a small area or they looked at a small area as opposed to a full scale perimeter of the field which was full of opium poppies.
When I mentioned crude labs in fields I was meaning NB's experience during WW2 not crude labs on Bamber owned property.
http://www.mtaofnj.org/content/WWII%20Combat%20Medic%20-%20Dave%20Steinert/wwii.htmToday the farmers responsibility ends with planting and maintaining the opium poppies until harvesting. At the point the poppies are ready for harvesting the pharmaceutical company sends in its own people and equipment to harvest and remove. But that's today. Legal growing and harvesting of opium poppies for the pharamacutical industry only went live in the UK during 2006.
Yes NB was known as a 'pillar of society' and I agree based on all written accounts etc it is difficult to comprehend him being involved in anything illegal but I can't account for a "special licence" for growing opium poppies for the pharmaceutical industry so I will be keeping an open mind as to what it was all about.
Many upholders of the law end up in jail eg police officers and judges.
