Submission + - The Chemistry of Tasmanian Opium (wired.com)
SoyChemist writes: "Tasmania produces massive amounts of opium for the pharmacutical industry. Those crops have been bred to produce massive amounts of thebaine, a precursor to prescription painkillers like oxycontin. However, they contain very little morphine — so that they are useless for making heroin. Despite that, researchers at the University of Newcastle have identified the chemical signature of heroin made from the morphine-deficient poppies. This will allow cops to track breeches in the security of the legal opium farms. If they find a batch of heroin on the street, and it contains the molecular fingerprint of Tasmanian poppies, they will know that some of the crop has been leaked to the black market."