{"id":496963,"date":"2026-02-22T15:03:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T15:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/496963\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T15:03:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T15:03:18","slug":"poppy-plant-thieves-steal-thousands-of-plants-from-victorian-farm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/496963\/","title":{"rendered":"Poppy plant thieves steal thousands of plants from Victorian farm"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Roy<\/p>\n

February 22, 2026 \u2014 7:06pm<\/p>\n

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Thieves stole about 1700 alkaloid poppy plants from a farm in the Ballarat area earlier this month prompting health experts to warn the plant\u2019s products could kill people.<\/p>\n

Ballarat detectives are investigating the thefts that happened sometime between February 14 and 16.<\/p>\n

\"ThousandsThousands of alkaloid poppy plants, similar to those pictured, were stolen from a Ballarat area farm in February.Victorian Department of Health<\/p>\n

Police have \u201cstrongly discouraged\u201d anyone from handling, transporting or experimenting with the plants due to the life-threatening levels of toxicity.<\/p>\n

The plants were grown for pharmaceutical use only, and at least 40 people were hospitalised with life-threatening conditions after drinking tea made from this type of poppy in recent years.<\/p>\n

A drug alert from the Victorian Department of Health on Saturday said these poppy plants only have tiny trace amounts of opioids and can cause seizures and other issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese poppies are very different from traditional opioid poppies and contain dangerously high concentrations of thebaine and oripavine, with risk of life-threatening toxicity. They contain only tiny (\u2018trace\u2019) amounts of traditional opioids like morphine and codeine,\u201d the alert said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThebaine is very different from the opioids in traditional opium poppies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThebaine does not produce pain relief, sedation or euphoria. Thebaine stimulates the nervous system and can lead to seizures, high body temperature, and life-threatening toxicity. Any exposure to thebaine may cause toxicity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thebaine is used in the industrial manufacture of some drugs, among other uses.<\/p>\n

The alert further warns people that the toxicity caused by these plants will not be reversed by the life-saving Naxolone that is used for treating opioid overdoses.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOripavine can produce opioid-like effects such as sedation, slowed breathing, and small pupils. However, oripavine is not used medically because it can also cause severe toxicity (agitation, seizures) and life-threatening complications at high doses,\u201d it read.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe effects may be unpredictable, particularly when combined with thebaine.<\/p>\n

\u201cNaloxone will reverse the opioid effects of oripavine but will not reverse the toxic stimulant effects. Naloxone will not reverse thebaine toxicity.\u201d<\/p>\n

At least 40 people experienced life-threatening symptoms from these kinds of products in 2022-2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cPoppy plant products may include dried flower heads (without petals), ground poppy-plant material, or liquid preparations derived from poppy plants. These products may contain high concentrations of thebaine and oripavine that lead to life-threatening toxicity,\u201d the alert said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2022-2023 at least 40 people experienced life-threatening effects following consumption of thebaine-contaminated poppy seed \u2018tea\u2019 \u2013 including agitation, muscle twitching, high body temperature and seizures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police continue to investigate the thefts and they have urged anyone who may have witnessed the thefts or has vision or information to contact them anonymously at crimestoppersvic.com.au<\/a> or phone 1800 333 000.<\/p>\n

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"RoyRoy Ward<\/a> is a sports writer, live blogger and breaking news journalist. He’s been writing for The Age since 2010.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"February 22, 2026 \u2014 7:06pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496964,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-496963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}