Legal opium production in India

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Legal cultivation of opium for medicinal purposes is carried out in India, only in selected areas, under free licensing conditions. India is the world's largest manufacturer of legal opium for the pharmaceutical industry according to the CIA World Factbook. [1] India is one among 12 countries in world where legal cultivation for medical use is permissible within the ambit of United Nations, Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 1961. In India legal cultivation is done primarily in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. [2] Despite producing poppy for opium production India depends heavily on imports to meet need of Poppy seed for edible purposes [3] and domestic Codeine demand for medical purposes (more than 30% by imports). Opium is heavily imported from its top producing nations like Afghanistan. There is also an account of Opium black marketing in India.

Contents

[4]

Background

The cultivation of poppy in India for Opium production has occurred since as early as 1000CE, where it was called "Dhanwantri Nighantu". [5] It was also cultivated in the early 16th Century. [6] [7] It constituted 15% of revenue of British Raj from Colonial India. [8] The legalized cultivation and management of produce under strict government control continued in India even post independence.

Opium poppy (Papaver somniferous) plant is the source of opium gum which contains psychoactive alkaloids. Some of these alkaloids include Morphine, Codeine and Thebaine. Morphine is one of the most widely used analgesic in the world and is the precursor to Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine. In case of extreme and excruciating pain such as that of terminally ill cancer patients, nothing alleviates the suffering except morphine. Codeine is commonly used in manufacture of cough syrups.

The NDPS act empowers the Central Government to permit and regulate cultivation of opium poppy for medical and scientific purposes. The Government of India notifies the tracts where opium cultivation can be licensed as well as the General Conditions for issuance of license every year. These notifications are commonly referred to as Opium Policies. Opium cultivation is permitted in the notified tracts in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh The General Conditions, among others, include a Minimum Qualifying Yield (MQY) to be tendered by the cultivators of each of these three states, to be eligible for license in the succeeding year.

Presently, the Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN), is responsible for overall supervision of cultivation as per provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. The produce from licensed cultivators are procured solely by government fixing strict norms on quantity and quality. The produce is then supplied by government to Government Opium and Alkaloid Factories (GOAF).


Process of cultivation

Each year the Central Government notifies the selected tracts where such cultivation will be permitted, and the general conditions for eligibility of the licence. The essential condition for issue of licence is, fulfillment of minimum qualifying yield (MQY) criterion, specified in number of kilograms per hectare. Cultivators who have tendered at least this quantity in the previous year are eligible for licence. The licence among other conditions, specifies the maximum area in which the opium crop can be sown.

If farmer realizes that the yield will be less than MQY then they have only an option of destroying the entire crop with government permission. If a farmer produces less than MQY then they may face legal action and will lose their license. [9]

The Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN), Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh) under the Narcotics Commissioner issues licenses to the farmers to cultivate opium poppy. Some places where opium is grown are Pratapgarh in Rajasthan; Mandsaur, Ratlam, Neemuch in Madhya Pradesh; and Barabanki, Bareilly, Lucknow & Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh. For the crop year 2008-09, total number of licences issued was 44821, while MQY was fixed at 56 kg/ha for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and 49 kg/ha for Uttar Pradesh. [10] Officers of Central Bureau of Narcotics measure each field and exercise controls to ensure that no excess cultivation takes place.

The crop year starts from November and ends on March every year. The extraction of opium takes place during the months of February and March. Farmers still use the traditional method where they lance each poppy capsule manually with a special blade like tool, a process known as lancing. The lancing is done in late afternoon or evenings. The opium latex which oozes out and congeals in the night is scraped and collected manually the next morning. Each poppy capsule is given three to four lancings.

All such opium collected is required to be necessarily tendered to the government, at specially set up opium collection centres, in early April. Opium is checked for quality and consistency and weighed at the centres. Prices are paid which are fixed by the Government in slab rates, depending on the quality and quantity of opium tendered. 90% of payment is made to the cultivators, directly in their bank account through e-payment method. Final payment is made after laboratory testing at opium factory after confirming that no adulterants have been found. [11] All the opium procured is sent to Government Opium and Alkaloid Factories situated at Neemuch and Ghazipur. Opium is dried and processed at these factories for export and is also used for extraction of various alkaloid products like Codeine phosphate, Thebaine, Morphine sulphate, Noscapine that are sold for pharmaceutical operations. But manufacturing of drugs such as Crude cocaine, ecgonine and diacetylmorphine (commonly known as heroin) and their salts are illegal and completely prohibited. [12] [13]

The state of West Bengal was trying to obtain permission to cultivate poppy since poppy seeds (khus khus) is an integral part of Bengali cuisine and hence has a huge domestic demand. [14]

Diversion and illegal production

There are rampant diversion and illegal production of opium found in India and India is regarded as third largest illicit opium producer in the world. [15] The diverted opium finds its way into North West Indian states like Punjab, where it forms an integral component in illegal drug trafficking. [16] There are ban on sale and trade of poppy husk (doda chura) a leftover from fields that was widely used in informal drug market in states like Rajasthan from 2015. [17] The wide difference between the prices in the illegal market (Rs. 60,000 - 120,000/- per kg) and government rates (Rs. 1800/- per kg) is one factor that prompts diversion and rampant corruption in enforcement. [18] There are strict laws against diversion in India. If caught then a farmer will lose their license to cultivate poppy and will be booked under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

Opium addicts registered with the State Governments are supplied prescription opium by the Governments as part of deaddiction. The Government Opium and Alkaloid Works at Ghazipur and Neemuch sell opium to the State Governments who, in turn, supply it to the addicts. [19]

There are also instances of reduction in crop due to theft, attacks from animals, weather events like hailstorms, drought and attack of Parrots which are accused as diversion often. [20]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morphine</span> Pain medication of the opiate family

Morphine, formerly also called morphia, is an opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin produced by drying the latex of opium poppies. It is mainly used as an analgesic. There are numerous methods used to administer morphine: oral; sublingual; via inhalation; injection into a muscle, injection under the skin, or injection into the spinal cord area; transdermal; or via rectal suppository. It acts directly on the central nervous system (CNS) to induce analgesia and alter perception and emotional response to pain. Physical and psychological dependence and tolerance may develop with repeated administration. It can be taken for both acute pain and chronic pain and is frequently used for pain from myocardial infarction, kidney stones, and during labor. Its maximum effect is reached after about 20 minutes when administered intravenously and 60 minutes when administered by mouth, while the duration of its effect is 3–7 hours. Long-acting formulations of morphine are available as MS-Contin, Kadian, and other brand names as well as generically.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opium</span> Dried latex of the opium poppy containing narcotic compounds

Opium is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy Papaver somniferum. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which is processed chemically to produce heroin and other synthetic opioids for medicinal use and for the illegal drug trade. The latex also contains the closely related opiates codeine and thebaine, and non-analgesic alkaloids such as papaverine and noscapine. The traditional, labor-intensive method of obtaining the latex is to scratch ("score") the immature seed pods (fruits) by hand; the latex leaks out and dries to a sticky yellowish residue that is later scraped off and dehydrated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thebaine</span> Opiate alkaloid constituent of opium

Thebaine (paramorphine), also known as codeine methyl enol ether, is an opiate alkaloid, its name coming from the Greek Θῆβαι, Thēbai (Thebes), an ancient city in Upper Egypt. A minor constituent of opium, thebaine is chemically similar to both morphine and codeine, but has stimulatory rather than depressant effects. At high doses, it causes convulsions similar to strychnine poisoning. The synthetic enantiomer (+)-thebaine does show analgesic effects apparently mediated through opioid receptors, unlike the inactive natural enantiomer (−)-thebaine. While thebaine is not used therapeutically, it is the main alkaloid extracted from Papaver bracteatum and can be converted industrially into a variety of compounds, including hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxycodone, oxymorphone, nalbuphine, naloxone, naltrexone, buprenorphine, butorphanol and etorphine.

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The term narcotic originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates and opioids, commonly morphine and heroin, as well as derivatives of many of the compounds found within raw opium latex. The primary three are morphine, codeine, and thebaine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poppy</span> Species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae

A poppy is a flowering plant in the subfamily Papaveroideae of the family Papaveraceae. Poppies are herbaceous plants, often grown for their colourful flowers. One species of poppy, Papaver somniferum, is the source of the narcotic drug mixture opium, which contains powerful medicinal alkaloids such as morphine and has been used since ancient times as an analgesic and narcotic medicinal and recreational drug. It also produces edible seeds. Following the trench warfare in the poppy fields of Flanders, Belgium, during World War I, poppies have become a symbol of remembrance of soldiers who have died during wartime, especially in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other Commonwealth realms.

<i>Papaver somniferum</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae

Papaver somniferum, commonly known as the opium poppy or breadseed poppy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae. It is the species of plant from which both opium and poppy seeds are derived and is also a valuable ornamental plant grown in gardens. Its native range was east of the Mediterranean Sea, but has since been obscured and vastly expanded by introduction and cultivation from ancient times to the present day, being naturalized across much of Europe and Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neemuch</span> City in Madhya Pradesh, India

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calcium morphenate</span>

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References

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  3. ↑ "West Bengal to Bid for Permission to Cultivate Poppy". The Wire. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  4. ↑ Datta, PT Jyothi. "Centre pilots private poppy cultivation and extraction of opium with new technology". @businessline. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  5. ↑ "Overview, CBN". Central Bureau of Narcotics. August 14, 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  6. ↑ Hays, Jeffrey. "OPIUM IN INDIA | Facts and Details". factsanddetails.com.
  7. ↑ Shrivastava, Vinay (2003). "The History of Opium in Central India During the 20th Century". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. pp. 767–776.
  8. ↑ Doctor, Vikram. "Union Budget 2012: Opium trade tucked away among the budget papers". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  9. ↑ "Opium crop failure: No high for these farmers in times of drought". The Indian Express. 2016-03-17. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  10. ↑ "Opium Poppy - an Overview". Central Bureau of Narcotics. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
  11. ↑ David Mansfield. "An analysis of licit opium cultivation:India and Turkey". Archived from the original on 2009-03-22. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
  12. ↑ "Opium - An overview". Government Opium & Alkaloid Factories. Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
  13. ↑ Bera, Sayantan (2017-09-08). "The opium trap". mint. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  14. ↑ "Mamata wants nod for poppy cultivation". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  15. ↑ Paoli, Letizia; Greenfield, Victoria A.; Charles, Molly; Reuter, Peter (2009). "The global diversion of pharmaceutical drugs". Addiction. 104 (3): 347–354. doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2008.02511.x. ISSN   1360-0443. PMID   19207342.
  16. ↑ Mohan, D.; Sundaram, K. R.; Sharma, H. K. (1986-05-01). "A study of drug abuse in rural areas of Punjab (India)". Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 17 (1): 57–66. doi:10.1016/0376-8716(86)90036-0. ISSN   0376-8716. PMID   3487439.
  17. ↑ "Doda or death? Addicts forced to choose after poppy husk ban". Hindustan Times. 2016-05-01. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  18. ↑ Bera, Sayantan (2017-09-08). "The opium trap". mint. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  19. ↑ Team, ThePrint (2018-10-03). "Will making prescription opium available help solve Punjab's drug menace or aggravate it?". ThePrint. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  20. ↑ P, Samyak; ey (2020-05-09). "India's opium crop is drying up in lockdown, but the parrots are not complaining". ThePrint. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
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