# One acre of poppies valued at $500M. Explain the math. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 1, 2017, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-acre-of-poppies-valued-at-500m-explain-the-math/787810 "2017-06-01T02:05:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-acre-of-poppies-valued-at-500m-explain-the-math/787810/21 "2017-06-01T19:13:58Z")
I have some facts and figures on legal poppy growth for pharmacetical products: GSK was world leading producer and reported $100M in annual revenues for the ingredient. ([http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/weekend-australian-magazine/tasmanias-opium-poppy-growers-face-trouble-ahead/news-story/a66ff44dc39704bc7d68c65f151e789f](http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/weekend-australian-magazine/tasmanias-opium-poppy-growers-face-trouble-ahead/news-story/a66ff44dc39704bc7d68c65f151e789f)) which supplies 146 tonnes of ingredient primarily grown and extracted in Tasmania through contract farming. They have recently sold the unit to Sun Pharmaceuticals of India. (Approximately 40-100,000 acres are cultivated, this is the only number that I don’t have in front of me.) Poppies are sold at $37/kg dry weight with up to 3% of the mass being desired narcotics. Legally, they produce about 3x more value per acre for a farmer compared to the best corn crop in iowa; however they can be grown on soil and conditions far below any threshold for suitability compared to any other crop. So an acre of poppies is \<\<$500M and the conclusion is that the article writer was in the midst of the burning poppy field while writing the story. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-acre-of-poppies-valued-at-500m-explain-the-math/787810/22 "2017-06-01T19:42:09Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Some versions say that the harvested poppy plants weighed 2,000 pounds. Perhaps somebody multiplied this by the street value of pure _heroin_ per pound? It still seems high, but perhaps that error gets you to the order of magnitude. I bet you’re right. 2,000 lbs of poppies gets mistranslated as 2,000 kg of heroin. Someone sees the [street value of a heroin dose](http://www.rehabcenter.net/the-average-cost-of-illegal-drugs-on-the-street/) (0.1 g) can be up to $20, and rounds up to $25. 2,000 kg = 20 million doses = $500M. Simple math (if you’re an idiot). ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-acre-of-poppies-valued-at-500m-explain-the-math/787810/23 "2017-06-02T21:24:15Z")
By Jove I think you’ve got it! Although the burning poppy field theory has merit as well. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2017, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-acre-of-poppies-valued-at-500m-explain-the-math/787810/24 "2017-06-03T07:52:02Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > You really find this to be bizarre? Law enforcement and journalism are extremely prone to exaggeration and hyperbole. Yep. I once asked our local newspapers Reader Rep to explain (or ask the writers to explain) how the 3 stories in that days paper about confiscated drugs had such wildly differing amounts for the ‘street value’ of these drugs. I calculated the price per pound, and one article had a price 3 times the other article, and the third article was 5.5 times the first article. The answer I eventually got was that the journalists just reprinted whatever price the arresting authority quoted to them. And in this specific case, one arrest was by city police, another by a state drug task force, and the 3rd by federal authorities. (And the city police told the reporter that 'those state & feds get ranked on how much they seize, and it affects their budget. So they make up big numbers. City Police are always going to be here, and drug seizures aren’t a major policing issue to the City Council.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-acre-of-poppies-valued-at-500m-explain-the-math/787810.md?page=1)