The Government of India has for the first time allowed a private company, Bajaj Healthcare, to process opium to extract alkaloids used to make pain-killers, cough syrups, and even cancer drugs.
Key highlights
- Two government factories in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, and Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh, do the work yet, processing some 800 tonnes of opium gum annually to extract alkaloids.
- The government gave Thane-based Bajaj Healthcare an initial contract to process 500 tonnes of opium gum annually and wants production to be at 800 tonnes per annum (tpa) in the next five years, indicating the state’s exit from the highly-regulated sector.
Opium cultivation in India
- India is a rare country to legally cultivate opium poppy and it is the only on that licitly produces opium gum.
- India is the only country authorised by the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961) to produce gum opium.
- In India, opium poppy cultivation is prohibited under Section 8 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, except under a licence issued by the Central Bureau of Narcotics under Rule 8 of NDPS Rules, 1985.
- The Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN), Gwalior, licenses farmers to cultivate opium poppy; supervises and controls the cultivation; and procures the opium produced by the licenced cultivators.
- The opium CBN collects is transferred to the government opium factories.
- Part of the opium is dried and exported and some is used to extract alkaloids.
- The government plants extract morphine, codeine, thebaine, and other alkaloids from opium and sell them to the pharmaceutical industry.
- The poppy stem is cut below the pod and then crushed to produce a concentrate.
- Alkaloids obtained from opium are used to make cough syrups, cancer medicines and pain management medicines.
- Therapeutically, alkaloids are particularly well known as anaesthetics, cardioprotective, and anti-inflammatory agents.
- Well-known alkaloids used in clinical settings include morphine, strychnine, quinine, ephedrine and nicotine.
- Alkaloids had some use as insecticides, but their use was limited due to high toxicity to humans.
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