§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what purpose commercial poppy growing has been licensed in Hampshire; and if he will make a statement. [72846]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthApproximately 400 hectares of opium poppies are being grown in the United Kingdom, mostly in Hampshire, to provide some of the raw material required for the manufacture of medicines such as codeine and morphine. The amount represents but a small proportion of the total required, which is sourced mainly in Australia, India, Spain and Turkey.
This is the first time opium poppies have been grown commercially in this country for medicinal purposes, although smaller amounts have been grown traditionally for culinary use of the seeds and for dried flower arranging.
Cultivation of the opium poppy is not subject to the licensing requirements of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 but details are furnished to the International Narcotics Control Board under the estimating and statistical provisions of the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961. The process is being monitored by the Home Office Drugs Branch which has arranged for police to be informed of the growing sites.