Pubdate: Thu, 08 Nov 2007
Source: Gauntlet, The (CN AB Edu)
Copyright: 2007 Gauntlet Publications Society.
Contact:  http://gauntlet.ucalgary.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2652
Author: Katy Anderson

RESEARCHER GETS GRANT TO STUDY OPIUM

One of the two researchers in the world researching  opium is here at 
the University of Calgary. Canada  Research Chair in Plant 
Biotechnology and biological  sciences professor Dr. Peter Facchini 
holds a license  to cultivate 100 opium poppies on campus.

"For the last fifteen years, I have been working on  understanding 
the biochemistry and molecular and cell  biology of how opium poppy 
can make medicinal compounds  such as morphine and codeine and 
related painkillers  and analgesics," said Facchini.

Recently Facchini was given a $650,000 grant by Natural  Sciences and 
Engineering Research Council of Canada to  research new ways opium 
poppies can be used for  medicinal and industrial purposes.

Facchini explained he doesn't know exactly how much a  domestic 
industry for poppies could be in Canada but  said he's heard of 
everything from $100 million to $1.6  billion.

"Canadians are one of the largest--if not the  largest--consumers of 
codeine in the world," said  Facchini. "One of the reasons for that 
is that it's an  over-the-counter medication. Only in Canada, 
Australia and New Zealand, in all other countries--for example,  the 
United States--it's strictly a prescription  medicine, so when you 
have an over-the-counter  medication and when you have something that 
is useful  to treat coughs and aches and pains and you live in 
a  climate such as Canada, then it's not surprising that  the value 
of the industry would be large."

Facchini's grant will be split between his own work  with opium 
poppies and his co-collaborator Jon Page's  research with cannabis.

"My involvement with [cannabis] is that a close  collaborator of mine 
who is a co-principle investigator  on this particular grant 
application has been studying  cannabis and he will be responsible 
for all the  cannabis work."

Facchini noted Page's research would happen at the  National Research 
Council Plant Biotechnology Institute  in Saskatoon. Facchini's 
research will be located in  Flin Flon, Manitoba at the infamous 
coalmine, as well  as continuing here at the university.

Until now, Page has been researching Hops--the plant  that causes the 
bitterness in beer.

"Hops and cannabis are two groups within one plant  family," said 
Facchini. "In fact, the bittering  compounds that are found in hops 
are in some extent  related to the psychoactive metabolites that are 
in  cannabis.

"It's an example of the chemical wizardry of plants,"  continued 
Facchini. "They're able to twist and turn  molecules into 
variations--some of which are  psychoactive and some of which are 
just bitter and it  doesn't really require all that much of a 
difference in chemical structure to a have a very profound effect 
on  the so-called pharmacology, in other words the effect  the 
compounds are going to have in us."

Afghanistan is the world's number one producer of opium  poppy. 
However, all of the production is illicit,  meaning 100 per cent of 
it goes to the production of  heroin, explained Facchini.

"The extent of cultivation of opium poppy in  Afghanistan is many 
times more than the entire licit  production of opium poppy in all 
countries in the world  that are allowed to do so," he said. "It is a 
problem.  It has contributed to the instability in that country."

Facchini noted he had no solutions to the problem going  on in 
Afghanastan, as it was beyond his jurisdiction as  a scientist.

"I have my opinions about how things should be dealt  with in a place 
like Afghanistan," said Facchini.  "Certainly the best that I can is 
to continue to  advance our understanding of the science of this 
plant and hopefully that knowledge will be useful in the  development 
of technologies that could perhaps one day  also be used to address 
issues in a place like  Afghanistan."
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart