Frank Swain is a science writer and blogger. He is based in the UK.
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Keep up to date with RSSThe Ministry of Defence has been left with egg on its face after a much-vaunted seizure of 1.3 tonnes of poppy seed turned out to be mung beans. The food crop was taken during Operation Panther Claw, breathlessly reported as a major strike at the heart of Afghanistan's terror network.
After having the seeds tested by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation in Kabul, the Guardian reports that officials have acknowledged their error and promised to return the mung beans to their rightful owner.
At the time, Colonel General Khodaidad, Afghanistan's minister of counter-narcotics, claimed the beans were a strain of "super poppy". For your benefit, I've attached images below for comparison.
Can you tell which is which?
Politics
Comments
Posted by: Susannah | July 1, 2009 11:51 PM
Twits. You just cannot make opium with poppy seeds.
Opium is made from the opium sap from the seed pods.
An easy bet: the mung bean crop was probably planted as part of an ONU program to wean Afgan peasants from poppies.
Posted by: _Arthur | July 2, 2009 12:57 AM
You can most certainly make opium from poppy seeds. Plant the seeds. Grow the Poppies. Harvest the opium.
Posted by: Galbinus_Caeli | July 2, 2009 1:31 PM
I'd like a mung-bean bagel with cream cheese please....
Galbinius: Similarly, you can make opium from dirt, water, and sunlight. Maybe the Panther Claw geniuses should confiscate some manure.
Posted by: Dave X | July 2, 2009 4:33 PM
Actually, you can make a opioid-containing tea from the seeds. The problem is in the dosing which can vary wildly among different seed sources, not something to take lightly with a potentially deadly depressant.
I'd put my bet on the right picture being poppyseed.
Posted by: KDH | July 10, 2009 1:42 PM