BUREAUCRACY STANDS IN WAY OF TURNING POPPIES INTO CASH CROP

Today, they symbolize a tragic part of Canadian history. But soon,
poppies could become part of a $100-million cash crop grown in
southern Alberta.

All that's standing in the way of that new opportunity - poppies for
pain-killers and baking - is the reluctance of bureaucrats in Ottawa,
says a Lethbridge entrepreneur.

The poppies, not unlike those marking Canadian graves in Flanders
fields, would be processed for use by pharmaceutical companies now
importing from Australia. They'd also help reduce a growing shortage
of poppyseeds used making bagels and other foods.

But Glen Metzler, the Lethbridge researcher who's promoting the new
crop, says he's being stalled by Health Canada officials. They need
only look to Australia, he adds, to find appropriate regulations to
ensure the poppy crop isn't diverted into the drug trade.

"They've been growing it in Australia for 40 years," he says. "They've
never had any issues."

What's proposed, says Metzler, is growing "a high-tech variety" as a
precursor to morphine, opium or similar medicinal ingredients.
Converting the material into pharmaceutical drugs would require buying
a $10-million processor, he points out - far more expensive than
what's involved in making "street drugs" in somebody's garage.

"It's not the same poppies they grow in Afghanistan," he
adds.

But it's still illegal to grow or cultivate poppy varieties outside a
laboratory. That's why Health Canada has refused Metzler's application
to start field trials in the Lethbridge area, officials say.

He says the poppies could be grown on irrigated land, in rotation with
canola, potatoes and other current crops. Historically, Metzler says
earlier varieties were grown here during the Second World War to help
produce pain medications for Canadian soldiers.

"Today there's a $100-million sales potential," based on what Canadian
pharmaceutical companies import every year. As well, Metzler says a
global shortage of poppyseed has driven prices up 40 to 50 per cent
for Canadian companies making bagels, poppycake or other baked delicacies.

But in Ottawa, Health Canada spokesman Jason Bouzanis says field tests
can't proceed because there are no guidelines in place. But none will
be approved unless there's a successful application.

Metzler, a marketing researcher who heads Metzler Trading Co. in
Lethbridge, says Alberta producers faced the same catch-22 situation
with hemp in the 1990s. Growing that crop was also banned under
Canada's food and drug laws until provincial and federal agriculture
officials convinced Health Canada to create legal guidelines.

"That framework is now in place," he says, and the United Nations'
narcotics control board recognizes Canada's regulations as a model for
other countries.

It took years to convince federal officials to write regulations for
hemp, Metzler says. But he hopes it won't be that long until poppy
crops are blowing legally on southern Alberta fields.

"Agriculture is looking for new opportunities, and we're presenting
one," he says. "Now we have to lobby the government. That's what's
holding us up."