On July 27th, Calgary police raid the backyard of a 62 year old man.

Police even called in a specialist from the University of Calgary to make sure that these poppies were in fact the opium kind. It was confirmed.

Opium from the the poppy plant can be used to extract drugs such as codeine and morphine, and can also be converted to heroin.

Duty Insp. Kevan Stuart said that since this is the first bust of its kind, it’s too soon to draw any links to international dealers or organized crime.

Others want Canada to grow?

Glen Metzler, head of Metzler Trading Company Ltd. in Lethbridge says he has writen to the Alberta government about allowing farmers to grow opium for pharmaceutical use. He has also writen to Alberta Health about growing for commercial purposes could be lucrative for Alberta farmers, who could turn to Australia as a model.

“Australia’s been growing poppies for 40 years now and very successfully,” he said. “They’ve had up to 22,000 hectares into production. For their farmers, it does exceptionally well.”

Facchini says, Canada is the world’s no. 1 consumer of codeine, importing an estimated $100 million worth of opium-related painkillers every year. (are we all really that sick?)

My question is, what stops people from just going on to a farmers field and getting themself some Opuim poppies for illegal drug use - the farmers themselves could do the same.

 To my surprise! It was true!

The gelatin in Jell-O comes from the collagen in cow or pig bones and connective tissues. To make gelatin, manufacturers grind up these various parts and pre-treat them with either a strong acid or a strong base to break down cellular structures and release proteins like collagen.

 I will never look at Jell-O the same way. Doesn’t matter to me though, still tastes good.

By the way, happy birthday Eric! Happy 13th birthday! Trece!