Green Light for Controlled Cultivation of Alifra Poppy?

The Director General of Treatment at the Narcotics Control Headquarters, referring to the controlled cultivation plan for medicinal plants, stated: People may be confused about whether poppy cultivation will take place in the country. In fact, no such issue has been raised, and poppy cultivation is not on the agenda.

Suleiman Abbasi, Director General of Treatment of the Anti-Narcotics Headquarters, referring to the importance of providing the drugs needed by the country, said: providing health is one of the three main priorities of every country, and in the Islamic Republic of Iran, providing people's health and access to needed drugs is one of the important duties of the government.

According to Ferraro's report, he stated that the supply of drugs is not limited to the drugs used in the treatment of addiction, and stated: The country needs a wide range of drugs for its population of about 90 million people, some of which are based on narcotic drugs. including acetaminophen codeine, anesthetics and some drugs used in the operating room.

Abbasi added: Therefore, the supply of raw materials for these drugs is a national issue and must be planned in such a way that the country does not face a crisis or lack of drugs.

Reducing discoveries and limiting the import of pharmaceutical raw materials

Director General of Treatment of the Anti-Narcotics Headquarters said: Previously, part of the discovered substances were given to pharmaceutical companies to be used for the production of drugs needed by the country, but with the change in the pattern of drug cultivation in different countries, especially neighboring countries, and the move from traditional cultivation to industrial production, the amount of discoveries has decreased.

He continued: In addition to the reduction of discoveries, the reduction of the purity of the discovered materials and the presence of impurities in these materials have also made it difficult to use them for the production of medicine.

Abbasi said: International institutions, including INCB, do not allow countries to import more controlled raw materials than they need. In addition to these restrictions, there is also a high import cost.

He emphasized: the set of these factors shows that we should move towards the domestic production of medicinal raw materials; Because the country has the necessary infrastructure and scientific capacity and expert elites in this field.

Controlled cultivation of Elifra anemones; No poppy cultivation

Referring to the plan of controlled cultivation of medicinal plants, the director general of treatment of the anti-narcotics headquarters clarified: people may be confused about whether poppy cultivation is going to be done in the country; While there is no such issue at all and poppy cultivation is not included in the program.

He added: "The country has moved towards the cultivation of a species such as "Olifra" anemone, which does not have the ability to cut blades, and the process of extracting its effective substances should be done after harvesting and in drug manufacturing factories. In this way, the raw material is not available to people and the production process will be under control.

Production of medicinal raw materials from Oleifera anemone

Abbasi said: Olifara anemone can produce effective substances such as thebaine and morphine, which can be used in the production of some medicines needed by the country.

He added: Among the drugs and medicinal substances that can be obtained are codeine, morphine, buprenorphine, hydrocodone and some other products, the raw materials of which can be obtained from this route.

Director General of Treatment of Narcotics Headquarters emphasized: The goal is not to cultivate this plant without control, but the amount of cultivation should be determined exactly according to the medicinal needs of the country.

The country's food basket should not be affected

Abbasi said: As policy makers, we must be careful that the cultivation of these plants does not disrupt the country's food basket.

He added: The country needs rice, wheat and other agricultural products and it is not possible to use all the capacity of agricultural land for a specific product and then resort to imports to meet the country's food needs.

Director General of Treatment of the Anti-Narcotics Headquarters continued: On the other hand, the amount of the active ingredient is not the same in different regions. A field may produce less than the expected amount of active ingredient; In such a situation, the area under cultivation should not be increased without a plan and damage the country's food basket.

Cultivation license is issued with the supervision of several devices

He said: A steering committee has been formed for this matter, in which various agencies are present; including the anti-narcotics headquarters, the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad, the Ministry of Health, the Food and Drug Organization, Faraja, the intelligence agencies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Judiciary.

Abbasi added: In this committee, security issues, the country's pharmaceutical needs, agricultural conditions and other aspects of the issue will be fully examined and the issuance of licenses will be done based on these considerations.

He said: In the field of land and cultivation, the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad has specialized responsibility, and in the field of extraction and production of pharmaceutical products, the Food and Drug Organization plays its specialized role. Technical instructions for cultivation, harvesting and storage as well as extraction and processing instructions are also provided.

Production capacity of "mother seed" and foreign exchange

The director general of treatment of the anti-narcotics headquarters said: If the country can move towards the production of mother seeds, considering the exclusivity of this technology in a limited number of countries in the world, a significant economic capacity will be created.

He added: this capacity can be used in the field of exporting seeds, raw materials and pharmaceutical products in addition to meeting the pharmaceutical needs of the country and gain currency for the country.

Abbasi emphasized: On the one hand, this issue can help to provide medicine and reduce the dependence of the country, and on the other hand, it can be considered an economic achievement by preventing the outflow of currency and creating export capacity.

The annual import of morphine has a heavy cost

Referring to the cost of importing morphine, he said: Each kilo of morphine costs about one thousand dollars, and based on international restrictions, it is not possible to import more than a certain amount.

Abbasi continued: If we consider the allowed amount of import to be 50 tons, the country must spend about 50 million dollars to provide the same amount. In addition, this amount does not necessarily meet the pharmaceutical needs of the country.

He added: On the other hand, the estimate made for domestic cultivation and production, taking into account the costs of land rent, infrastructure and irrigation facilities, labor, transportation, cultivation and harvesting, is about 337 billion tomans, which can be more economical from an economic point of view.

The director general of treatment of the anti-narcotics headquarters emphasized: The purpose of this plan is not to grow poppy; Rather, the cultivation of suitable medicinal species is controlled, limited and under the supervision of responsible institutions.

He emphasized: moving towards the domestic production of pharmaceutical raw materials is important both in providing the drugs needed by the whole country and in the field of treating patients suffering from addiction, and by using the domestic scientific and technological capacity, the dependence of the country can be reduced and the crisis and shortage of drugs can be prevented.

Transformational actions of the headquarters in the 14th government

Abbasi, referring to the transformational actions and programs of the anti-narcotics headquarters in the 14th government, said: With the beginning of the responsibility of Dr. Hossein Zulfiqari as the representative of the president and the secretary general of the headquarters, a new approach to review and transformation in various areas of the anti-narcotics campaign was put on the agenda.

He added: In this framework, several plans such as "Addiction Treatment Transformation Plan", "Hope and Life Centers Plan", "Prevention Transformation Plan", "People's Participation Organization Plan" and "Plan for Supplying Raw Materials for the Country's Pharmaceutical Needs" have been compiled and put on the agenda.

The general director of treatment of the anti-narcotics headquarters stated that these measures are the result of a comprehensive look at the addiction problem and stated: In the field of treatment, efforts have been made to complete the treatment chain from the stage of admission and detoxification to empowerment, employment and post-treatment support so that recovered people are not exposed to returning to the cycle of addiction after discharge.

Abbasi emphasized: The new approach of the headquarters is to move away from scattered and isolated actions in the fight against narcotics and to move towards the implementation of specific and evaluable programs with planning, coordination and division of work among the responsible agencies.