SUPERMARKETS HIDING POPPY SEED TO FLUSH OUT ADDICTS

Some Dunedin supermarkets have hidden poppy seed or refused to sell it in
bulk because of its use by drug addicts.

The South Island's largest food wholesaler, Foodstuffs, yesterday confirmed
it was monitoring sales in an effort to stop potentially dangerous abuse.

Drug-users buy the seed to brew poppy tea, an emerging phenomenon concerning
addiction researchers.

A Wellington drug study has raised concerns about the easy access younger
potential drug users have to poppy seed, the temptation it provided to users
trying to give up their addiction and the difficulty of further regulating a
foodstuff.

It suggested addicts who switched to poppy-seed tea may do less harm to
themselves because they were not exposed to blood-borne viruses common in
injected-drug abuse, and there was no widespread report of drug overdoses.

But experts said some addicts found it difficult to withdraw from this form
of drug, because poppy seeds contained a range of narcotic alkaloids.

Foodstuffs South Island chief executive Steve Anderson said, when contacted,
his company had responded to concerns by effectively stopping unidentifiable
bulk-buys, and by monitoring who bought it.

While refusing to say what would happen if a problem purchaser was
identified, he did confirm it spoke to one wholesale customer "some time
ago" and that "we have not had any issues since".

"We do recognise that there are other uses for legitimate products, and we
try to keep an eye on things as much as we can. It is a responsibility we
have been quick to get on to."

Gardens New World owner Ross Parry said his supermarket would not sell the
product in bulk because of its suspected links to drug abuse.

Last year, staff were instructed to keep packets of poppy seeds hidden so
they could monitor who bought them.

People who effectively bought in bulk were quizzed about why they needed so
much, and the supermarket reserved the right to refuse to sell it.

"It is a seasonal thing that happens when the poppies are blooming in the
city, and it's probably added to whatever they can get out of the poppies
they collect," Mr Parry said.

Centre City New World manager Craig Nieper said his supermarket did not sell
poppy seed in bulk, but acknowledged packets of seed were available on the
shelves.

"If you can't get a lot of it, and you have to make an effort to get it,
then you're probably not going to do it."

The head of Dunedin's drug squad, Detective Sergeant Kevin Anderson, said he
had not heard of poppy-seed use becoming a problem in Dunedin, but urged
anyone with concerns to contact the police.

The edible poppy seed used in cooking and on bread rolls comes from the
opium poppy, and contains morphine (a painkiller), codeine (a cough
suppressant), papaverine (a muscle relaxant), and thebaine (a stimulant).
Some of those are highly addictive and abused as illicit drugs.