Tasmanian Alkaloids is the largest opium poppy

Opium poppy

Opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, is the species of plant from which opium and poppy seeds are extracted. Opium is the source of many opiates, including morphine , thebaine, codeine, papaverine, and noscapine...

 processing company in the Australian state of Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

. Approximately forty-percent of the worlds legal opiate crop is grown in Tasmania. Tasmanian Alkaloids is a subsidiary of the United States pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is an American multinational pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer packaged goods manufacturer founded in 1886. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company is listed among the Fortune 500....

, but was formerly—as of 1980—a subsidiary of Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories is an American-based global, diversified pharmaceuticals and health care products company. It has 90,000 employees and operates in over 130 countries. The company headquarters are in Abbott Park, North Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded by Chicago physician, Dr....

.

The company patented a poppy variety called ‘’Norman’’ which was stated, in the 1999 Tasmanian Alkaloids Poppy Grower’s Bulletin to be the first variety lacking morphine

Morphine

Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...

 and codeine

Codeine

Codeine or 3-methylmorphine is an opiate used for its analgesic, antitussive, and antidiarrheal properties...

, which still containing thebaine

Thebaine

Thebaine , its name coming from the Greek Θῆβαι, Thēbai, an ancient city in Upper Egypt, is an opiate alkaloid. A minor constituent of opium, thebaine is chemically similar to both morphine and codeine, but has stimulatory rather than depressant effects, causing convulsions similar to strychnine...

 and oripavine

Oripavine

Oripavine is an opiate and the major metabolite of thebaine. It is the parent compound from which a series of semi-synthetic opioids are derived, which includes the compounds etorphine and buprenorphine...

. This variety went into commercial production in 1998. The companys processing plant is in Westbury

Westbury, Tasmania

Westbury is a town in the central north of Tasmania, Australia. It lies 30 km west of Launceston on the Bass Highway, and at the 2006 census had a population of 1,357. It is part of, and the headquarters of, the Meander Valley Council area....

, a town west of Launceston

Launceston, Tasmania

Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...

in the State’s north. The company is licensed by both the Australian federal and state governments to carry out its opiate processing work.
‎