Tasmanian Alkaloids and the Johnson & Johnson Opium Poppy Monopoly w/ Peter Andrey Smith

Robbie Martin interviews Peter Andrey Smith about his trip to Tasmania investigating opium poppy farmers who supply the licit aka legal pharmaceutical opioid market in the United States. This DEA sanctioned legal opium market is largely dominated by Johnson & Johnson, using a subsidiary company Tasmanian Alkaloids, that produces large quantities of opium poppies (over 80% of the market) potent in thebane, an important ingredient for the manufacturing of Oxycontin. Johnson & Johnson was recently ordered to pay over $500,000,000 in fines by a judge in an unprecedented ruling for its role in contributing to the opioid epidemic. Peter Andrey Smith's article 'How an Island of the Antipodes Became the World's Largest Supplier of Licit Opioids' can be read here: http://bit.ly/2lv0G53 Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating to Media Roots Radio @ www.patreon.com/mediarootsradio FOLLOW // twitter.com/FluorescentGrey

Om Podcasten

Since 2010, siblings and journalists Abby Martin and Robbie Martin have been doing Media Roots Radio, a political podcast with a critical eye on US foreign policy, political partisanship and what people can do to fight back. Conversational, controversial, passionate and explicit, Media Roots stands apart from the majority of podcasts coming from a similar point of view. Listen to all previous episodes on soundcloud, itunes, spotify and stitcher. All $5 and up patrons get an exclusive bonus episode every month!