Canadian doda wars heat up

Reader Bob wrote to update us on the growing story of doda, a narcotic opium paste or powder made by grinding dried poppy pods, favored by Canada's South Asian community.

Are you aware of the growing police crackdown in Canada on dried poppies and ground poppy pods? This crackdown seems to be a new phenomenon that began this year, with arrests in the Vancouver area (last week), Edmonton (August), and the Toronto area (March), in 2009.

Particularly in the large S.Asian (Indian) communities in Canadian cities, the sale of ground, powdered poppy pods known as "doda" or "dode" has become widespread and is commonly sold on grocery store shelves - up until lately. I believe the crackdown is due to a reaction to the rise in, and openness of use. Plus the fact Canada now has the Conservative Party in power nationally, with a get-tough-on-drugs agenda, following the failed American war-on-drugs model. Here on some article links:

• Doda drug bust: Opium poppy plants seized in Surrey
  
• 22 face drug charges after Mississauga, Brampton raids
  
• Opium bust 'significant,' police say

A couple of other news articles give some relevant background to the story:

This article from Toronto in July '08 shows there was some lobbying and campaigning within the S. Asian community against "dode" sales and use, but at that time police were not yet ready to arrest anyone for poppies, partly due to some lab tests showing morphine/codeine content in concentrations thought too low to prosecute. Evidently that hurdle didn't last long, as arrests soon began in 2009 in several cities across Canada.

Also, editor of a Toronto area Punjabi newspaper who'd been editorializing repeatedly against presence of dode/doda in the community, actually got kidnapped and beaten without explanation. At least one theory was people in the dode/doda biz didn't like him fearmongering and threatening their biz!

As far as I know the floral trade in Canada is still selling dried poppies on stems for decorative purposes, unmolested by the police, for now. But that could easily change almost overnight. Canada's narcotics laws do state possession of opium poppies is illegal. All that needs happen is for authorities to decide to start enforcing the letter of the law. Next step, shutting down the floral trade in poppies... Followed by raiding the yards of little old ladies who've, for years, been growing poppies as mainstays of their gardens?!

Thanks Bob!