Opium Poppies Grown at WHF?

[Holly Goodhead]

Misuse of Drugs Act 1971
The Secretary of State may by regulations- Authorisation (a) except from section 3(1)(a) or (b), 4(1)(a) or (b) or 5(1)  activities of this Act such controlled drugs as may be specified in unlawful the regulations ; and under (b) make such other provision as he thinks fit for the foregoing purpose of making it lawful for persons to do things provisions. which under any of the following provisions of this Act, that is to say sections 4(1), 5(1) and 6(1), it would otherwise be unlawful for them to do. (2) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) above, regulations under that subsection authorising the doing of any such thing. as is mentioned in that paragraph may in particular provide for the doing of that thing to be lawful- (a) if it is done under and in accordance with the terms of a licence or other authority issued by the Secretary
 that it is not unlawful under section 50) of this Act for a doctor, dentist, veterinary` practitioner, veterinary surgeon, pharmacist or person lawfully conducting a retail pharmacy business to have a controlled drug in his possession for the purpose of acting in his capacity as such. (4) If in the case of any controlled drug the Secretary of State is of the opinion that it is in the public interest (a) for production, supply and possession of that drug to be either wholly unlawful or unlawful except for purposes of research or other special purposes ; or (b) for it to be unlawful for practitioners, pharmacists and persons lawfully conducting retail pharmacy businesses to do in relation to that drug any of the things mentioned in subsection (3) above except under a licence or other authority
Looks like there was a 'Licence' available in 1971 issued by the Secretary of State.

The misuse of drugs acts 1971 identifies classes of controlled drugs and identifies those that are legally eligible to produce, procure and distribute.  Along with penalties for those that are operating illegally. 

It is often presented as little more than a list of prohibited drugs and of penalties linked to their possession and supply. In practice, however, the act establishes the Home Secretary as a key player in a drug licensing system. Therefore, for example, various opiates are available legally as prescription-only medicines, and cannabis (hemp)[6] may be grown under licence for 'industrial purposes'. The Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001,[7] created under the 1971 Act, are about licensing of production, possession and supply of substances classified under the act.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misuse_of_Drugs_Act_1971

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1971/38/contents

A farmer growing opium poppies does not require a licence as the poppies are totally benign until processed for drugs containing opiates.  It is the pharma company that requires the licence as they are the producer of the opium poppies (raw material) turning them into powerful drugs containing opiates.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/85941/response/218225/attach/3/CR20001%20Response.pdf

http://growninengland.co.uk/giw_grower/johnson-matthey-macfarlan-smith/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacFarlan_Smith

In late 2006, the British government permitted MacFarlan Smith to cultivate opium poppies in the United Kingdom for medicinal reasons, in response to increasing global prices for concentrate of poppy straw, the company's main raw material. This move is well received by British farmers,[citation needed] with a major opium poppy field based in Didcot, England. As of 2012 they were growing in Dorset, Hampshire, Oxfordshire & Lincolnshire as a spring sown breakcrop recognised under the single payment scheme farm subsidy.[9] The Office of Fair Trading has alerted the government to their monopoly position on growing in the UK and worldwide production of diamorphine and recommended consideration.[10] The government's response advocated the status quo, being concerned interference might cause the company to stop production.[11]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2667253/Not-Afghanistan-Hampshire-How-opium-poppies-grown-UK-make-morphine-NHS.html

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/opium-poppies-far-eye-can-5955835

http://www.independent.co.uk/property/gardening/fields-of-joy-thanks-to-a-morphine-shortage-poppy-growing-in-the-uk-is-now-all-the-rage-1748102.html

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/the-painkilling-fields-englands-opium-poppies-that-tackle-the-nhs-morphine-crisis-6597885.html

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/NEWS/10660937.Farmers_go_into_legal_drug_business_with_poppy_crops/?ref=twtrec

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12366844.UK_farmers_allowed_to_cultivate_poppies_for_morphine/

[Holly Goodhead]

What! Thought that's me done on here for tonight, turned the tele on to BBC 1.....what's it about the growth of poppies for drugs in Mexico!!!  %£&)**#

And think how much safer, easier and more profitable it would be for a UK drug cartel if they were able to procure the poppies in the UK and produce heroin on home soil rather than smuggling it across the globe. 

[John]

Anyone can cultivate poppies in the UK commercially and they are grown for both their seeds and their flowers.  Extracting opium however for medical purposes requires a licence.

[Opal]

The misuse of drugs acts 1971 identifies classes of controlled drugs and identifies those that are legally eligible to produce, procure and distribute.  Along with penalties for those that are operating illegally. 

It is often presented as little more than a list of prohibited drugs and of penalties linked to their possession and supply. In practice, however, the act establishes the Home Secretary as a key player in a drug licensing system. Therefore, for example, various opiates are available legally as prescription-only medicines, and cannabis (hemp)[6] may be grown under licence for 'industrial purposes'. The Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001,[7] created under the 1971 Act, are about licensing of production, possession and supply of substances classified under the act.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misuse_of_Drugs_Act_1971

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1971/38/contents

A farmer growing opium poppies does not require a licence as the poppies are totally benign until processed for drugs containing opiates.  It is the pharma company that requires the licence as they are the producer of the opium poppies (raw material) turning them into powerful drugs containing opiates.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/85941/response/218225/attach/3/CR20001%20Response.pdf

http://growninengland.co.uk/giw_grower/johnson-matthey-macfarlan-smith/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacFarlan_Smith

In late 2006, the British government permitted MacFarlan Smith to cultivate opium poppies in the United Kingdom for medicinal reasons, in response to increasing global prices for concentrate of poppy straw, the company's main raw material. This move is well received by British farmers,[citation needed] with a major opium poppy field based in Didcot, England. As of 2012 they were growing in Dorset, Hampshire, Oxfordshire & Lincolnshire as a spring sown breakcrop recognised under the single payment scheme farm subsidy.[9] The Office of Fair Trading has alerted the government to their monopoly position on growing in the UK and worldwide production of diamorphine and recommended consideration.[10] The government's response advocated the status quo, being concerned interference might cause the company to stop production.[11]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2667253/Not-Afghanistan-Hampshire-How-opium-poppies-grown-UK-make-morphine-NHS.html

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/opium-poppies-far-eye-can-5955835

http://www.independent.co.uk/property/gardening/fields-of-joy-thanks-to-a-morphine-shortage-poppy-growing-in-the-uk-is-now-all-the-rage-1748102.html

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/the-painkilling-fields-englands-opium-poppies-that-tackle-the-nhs-morphine-crisis-6597885.html

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/NEWS/10660937.Farmers_go_into_legal_drug_business_with_poppy_crops/?ref=twtrec

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12366844.UK_farmers_allowed_to_cultivate_poppies_for_morphine/

Exactly what I said Holly, NB didn't need a licence to grow Opium Poppies, but from 'The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971   it was unlawful for practitioners, pharmacists and persons lawfully conducting retail pharmacy businesses to do in relation to that drug any of the things mentioned in subsection (3) except under a licence or other authority The attachments you've given are not as early as 1971. So when JB said they had a special licence, he meant the Pharmaceutical Company had a licence so it wasn't illegal.

[Holly Goodhead]

Exactly what I said Holly, NB didn't need a licence to grow Opium Poppies, but from 'The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971   it was unlawful for practitioners, pharmacists and persons lawfully conducting retail pharmacy businesses to do in relation to that drug any of the things mentioned in subsection (3) except under a licence or other authority The attachments you've given are not as early as 1971. So when JB said they had a special licence, he meant the Pharmaceutical Company had a licence so it wasn't illegal.

We seem to go round in circles on this one Opal 

I agree NB didn't need a licence to grow opium poppies for the pharma industry but:

- According to Dr Craig JB told  him that WHF had a licence to grow opium poppies for the pharma industry.

- If JB was lying why didn't EP pick up on this during interviews?

- There's no evidence of any history in this country of farmers growing opium poppies for the pharma industry before 2006.

- It appears from all the available evidence in the public domain that pharma company McFarlan Smith is the only UK based company to be granted a licence to extact opium from poppies grown by UK farmers. This was in 2006.  How can you explain WHF growing opium poppies for a pharma company in 1985.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacFarlan_Smith

[Holly Goodhead]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacFarlan_Smith

Present

In 2001, Johnson Matthey plc bought Meconic, and merged it into its Fine Chemical and Catalysts division.

In late 2006, the British government permitted MacFarlan Smith to cultivate opium poppies in the United Kingdom for medicinal reasons, in response to increasing global prices for concentrate of poppy straw, the company's main raw material. This move is well received by British farmers, with a major opium poppy field based in Didcot, England. As of 2012 they were growing in Dorset, Hampshire, Oxfordshire & Lincolnshire as a spring sown breakcrop recognised under the single payment scheme farm subsidy. The Office of Fair Trading has alerted the government to their monopoly position on growing in the UK and worldwide production of diamorphine and recommended consideration. The government's response advocated the status quo, being concerned interference might cause the company to stop production.

The British government has since contradicted the Home Office's suggestion that opium cultivation can be legalized in Afghanistan for exports to the United Kingdom, helping lower poverty and internal fighting whilst helping the National Health Service to meet the high demand for morphine and heroin. Opium poppy cultivation in the United Kingdom does not need a licence, but a licence is required for those wishing to extract opium for medicinal products.

Macfarlan Smith is now one of the world's leading manufacturer of opiate alkaloids. Together with sister companies within the Johnson Matthey group, they can provide full spectrum drug development, from drug discovery through to bulk production.

[John]

So am I correct in thinking it is the pharmaceutical Company who required the licence and not the farmer since poppies are grown for all sorts of purposes other than opium extraction?

[Holly Goodhead]

So am I correct in thinking it is the pharmaceutical Company who required the licence and not the farmer since poppies are grown for all sorts of purposes other than opium extraction?

Yes that's correct.

JB and/or Dr Craig could easily have got their wires crossed about the licence.  However as far as I can see the first UK pharma company to be granted a licence for producing medicines using opium poppies grown by UK farmers was MacFarlan Smith in 2006. The only other innocent explanation I can think of is that WHF was exporting the poppies to an overseas pharma company.  Failing this the only other possibility I can think of is that WHF was cultivating opium poppies for a drug cartel with the poppies transported to a site capable of extracting the opium and turning it into heroin ready to market on the streets of Essex/London.   

[Opal]

We seem to go round in circles on this one Opal 

I agree NB didn't need a licence to grow opium poppies for the pharma industry but:

- According to Dr Craig JB told  him that WHF had a licence to grow opium poppies for the pharma industry.

- If JB was lying why didn't EP pick up on this during interviews?

- There's no evidence of any history in this country of farmers growing opium poppies for the pharma industry before 2006.

- It appears from all the available evidence in the public domain that pharma company McFarlan Smith is the only UK based company to be granted a licence to extact opium from poppies grown by UK farmers. This was in 2006.  How can you explain WHF growing opium poppies for a pharma company in 1985.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacFarlan_Smith

Don't we just Holly 

In 1962, T&H Smith bought Duncan Flockhart, and then merged with along J.F Macfarlan to form Edinburgh Pharmaceuticals. In 1965 the Glaxo Group bought Edinburgh Pharmaceuticals, rebranding it Macfarlan Smith Ltd.[1][2]

In 1958, while trying to develop dental anasthetic Lignocaine, the company had discovered the bitterest substance yet known to man, Denatonium. Developed as a denaturant for industrial alcohol, in the 1970s it was commercial marketed as Bitrex®,[7] a safety additive for household products such as liquid detergents. Tesco were the first supermarket to display the Bitrex® brand on their products.[1][2]

In 1963 the company reproduced Etorphine, in a research group led by Professor Kenneth Bentley.[8]


Etorphine (M99) is a semi-synthetic opioid possessing an analgesic potency approximately 1,000–3,000 times that of morphine.[1] It was first prepared in 1960 fromoripavine, which does not generally occur in opium poppy extract but rather in "poppy straw" and in the related plants Papaver orientale and Papaver bracteatum.[2] It was later reproduced in 1963 by a research group at MacFarlan Smith in Gorgie, Edinburgh, led by Professor Kenneth Bentley.[3]
 I believe the Macfarlan Smith Company managed to get a Licence to lawfully produce this from The Secretary of State...See Misuse of Drugs Act 1971
7Authorisation of activities otherwise unlawful under foregoing provisions
(a)if it is done under and in accordance with the terms of a licence or other authority issued by the Secretary of State and in compliance with any conditions attached thereto; or
(b)if it is done in compliance with such conditions as may be prescribed. [/color]

[Holly Goodhead]

Don't we just Holly 

In 1962, T&H Smith bought Duncan Flockhart, and then merged with along J.F Macfarlan to form Edinburgh Pharmaceuticals. In 1965 the Glaxo Group bought Edinburgh Pharmaceuticals, rebranding it Macfarlan Smith Ltd.[1][2]

In 1958, while trying to develop dental anasthetic Lignocaine, the company had discovered the bitterest substance yet known to man, Denatonium. Developed as a denaturant for industrial alcohol, in the 1970s it was commercial marketed as Bitrex®,[7] a safety additive for household products such as liquid detergents. Tesco were the first supermarket to display the Bitrex® brand on their products.[1][2]

In 1963 the company reproduced Etorphine, in a research group led by Professor Kenneth Bentley.[8]


Etorphine (M99) is a semi-synthetic opioid possessing an analgesic potency approximately 1,000–3,000 times that of morphine.[1] It was first prepared in 1960 fromoripavine, which does not generally occur in opium poppy extract but rather in "poppy straw" and in the related plants Papaver orientale and Papaver bracteatum.[2] It was later reproduced in 1963 by a research group at MacFarlan Smith in Gorgie, Edinburgh, led by Professor Kenneth Bentley.[3]
 I believe the Macfarlan Smith Company managed to get a Licence to lawfully produce this from The Secretary of State...See Misuse of Drugs Act 1971
7Authorisation of activities otherwise unlawful under foregoing provisions
(a)if it is done under and in accordance with the terms of a licence or other authority issued by the Secretary of State and in compliance with any conditions attached thereto; or
(b)if it is done in compliance with such conditions as may be prescribed. [/color]

Yes MacFarlan Smith (parent company Johnson Matthey) produced various medicines containing opiates prior to 1985 but the opium poppies used were sourced from Tasmania not the UK.  As far as I can see the first time any UK based pharmaceutical company sourced its poppies from the UK was McFarlan Smith in 2006 which doesn't account for JB's claims in 1985 of opium poppies grown at WHF for the pharmaceutical industry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacFarlan_Smith

In late 2006, the British government permitted MacFarlan Smith to cultivate opium poppies in the United Kingdom for medicinal reasons, in response to increasing global prices for concentrate of poppy straw, the company's main raw material. This move is well received by British farmers,[citation needed] with a major opium poppy field based in Didcot, England. As of 2012 they were growing in Dorset, Hampshire, Oxfordshire & Lincolnshire as a spring sown breakcrop recognised under the single payment scheme farm subsidy.[9] The Office of Fair Trading has alerted the government to their monopoly position on growing in the UK and worldwide production of diamorphine and recommended consideration.[10] The government's response advocated the status quo, being concerned interference might cause the company to stop production.
 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04f8k41

[Opal]

Oh ok Holly the poppies came from Tasmania or abroad in the 1980's.

As NB didn't need a licence to grow opium poppies could it have been part of a trial planting just a small area? I read somewhere about a 'set aside' for farmers but I'm not sure when this came into force....?

The common poppy suffered a decline with the advent of intensive agriculture and the increasing use of herbicides after the Second World War, but had a revival in Britain in the 1980s as a result of the policy of ‘set-aside’ in which farmers were rewarded for taking agricultural land out of production.

[Holly Goodhead]

Oh ok Holly the poppies came from Tasmania or abroad in the 1980's.

As NB didn't need a licence to grow opium poppies could it have been part of a trial planting just a small area? I read somewhere about a 'set aside' for farmers but I'm not sure when this came into force....?

The common poppy suffered a decline with the advent of intensive agriculture and the increasing use of herbicides after the Second World War, but had a revival in Britain in the 1980s as a result of the policy of ‘set-aside’ in which farmers were rewarded for taking agricultural land out of production.

Also India.  I think this was the main reason MacFarlane Smith looked towards the UK to cultivate the poppies in that the price of the opium latex from India (the liquid that seeps from the head) increased substantially.  And I guess given that the morphine the company produced was destined for the NHS this is the reason the gov granted the licence.  To this day MacFarlane appear to have a monopoly which has been the subject of an OFT review but gov overrode fearing MacFarlane might cease production.

Set-aside I understand is to encourage wildlife eg song birds that eat a lot of insects and to reduce production of crops eg wheat, barley to balance supply/demand and price.

Agreed NB didn't need a licence and could have been a trial but this doesn't fit with JB's claims as told by Dr Craig. 

I think there are too many unknowns to say anything for certain. Its just another aspect of the case that is once again out of the ordinary as I don't believe many farmers in the 80's grew opium poppies.

[Holly Goodhead]

The murders at WHF are one of the UK's most notorious crimes and also the site of the world's most notorious plant seemingly growing in abundance at a time when UK farms didn't have any legitimate reason to cultivate op's on a large scale.  Are we to believe the two are entirely unconnected?  If so on what basis?  

If NB was seeing numerous addicts and drug related crimes in his role as magistrate he may have taken the view they're going to obtain it so let's get the quality right.  Or had some bizarre ideas about controlling the strength and weaning addicts off.  Or setting up a Mr Big to get him behind bars.  On the other hand he may just have wanted a slice of the huge profits.  The possibilities are numerous.      

[Holly Goodhead]

Had the op's been growing at JB's cottage I think rather more would have been made of it. As they were growing at WHF, which NB was ultimately responsible for, it appears to have fallen under the radar. Perhaps on the assumption, rightly or wrongly, that NB was above reproach.

[Holly Goodhead]

Where did the op's end up? Or were they destroyed?

Post tragedy Peter Eaton was appointed farm manager.   JB said the first task was to complete the harvest. I assume he meant mainstream crops: wheat, barley.