Summary

Chapter 26 describes the cultivation of poppies on the island of Tasmania. A special "super poppy" is cultivated here to produce a high percentage of thebaine, an "alkaloid that is the key chemical precursor for oxycodone" (363). Pharmaceutical companies incentivize Tasmanian farmers to stop growing vegetables and grow poppies instead. Purdue Pharma is not the only company clamoring for more thebaine--Janssen, Endo, Teva, and other companies need thebaine for their growing list of pain products as well.

One crusading attorney general named Mike Moore appears on the scene. Moore had garnered attention and money from taking on Big Tobacco, and now he realizes that Purdue's deceptive marketing looks a lot like the lies told by Big Tobacco for decades. Moore joins forces with other lawyers and begins to hold Purdue and other pharmaceutical companies accountable. Then, Moore and his legal contingent decide to...