cannabisnews.com: Afghanistan Say They'll Harvest Marijuana Plants 





Afghanistan Say They'll Harvest Marijuana Plants 
Posted by CN Staff on September 12, 2002 at 07:35:18 PT
By Christopher Torchia, Associated Press Writer
Source: Associated Press
Obeying a Taliban edict, many marijuana cultivators in Afghanistan stopped growing their crops when the hardline Islamic militia was in power. Now some of those farmers are back in business. They're so open about it that fields of sturdy marijuana plants, some nearly seven feet tall, line part of the main road leading west from Mazar-e-Sharif, the biggest city in northern Afghanistan. Resin from the plant, also known as cannabis, is concentrated to make hashish. 
With the main harvest expected in one to two months, growers in the roadside village of Khana Abad, 20 miles from Mazar-e-Sharif, say they'll ignore government warnings to tear up their crops. "Maybe it isn't good for our people, but we have to do it because of our economic problems," said Rouzudin, a farmer who said he heard the warnings broadcast on the radio only after investing a large sum in his plot. Rouzudin might just be able to harvest his leafy, dark green crop without state intervention. Since the Taliban were ousted in a U.S.-led war last year, Afghanistan's new government and the United Nations have focused anti-drug efforts on eradicating opium-bearing poppies, which are used to make heroin. Afghanistan was once the source of 70 percent of the world's opium, much of it originating in the south of the country. The Taliban successfully banned poppies in 2000, but farmers quickly planted them again after their ouster. During the harvest earlier this year, the government offered compensation money to farmers who abandoned opium, but many reaped their harvest anyway. Marijuana plants are less of a priority, even though Afghanistan, especially the northern part, is a major producer. Consumption of hashish, the plant's concentrated resin, is widespread in the country, and smugglers ferry it through Iran and to markets in the Persian Gulf, Europe and beyond. The United Nations has conducted surveys of poppy crops, but has not done so for marijuana plants. The focus on poppies possibly reflects the view of international donors that highly addictive heroin is the more urgent problem. Marijuana plants are widely grown in at least three of the 16 districts in Balkh province, which is home to Mazar-e-Sharif. Local authorities have sent letters to villages urging farmers to stop growing the illegal crop, but they have yet to decide how and when they will crack down. "The farmers have planted this stuff like smugglers," said Saheed Azizullah Hashmi, head of the province's agriculture department. "We don't know how much there is out there." He said many people associated with the hashish trade were linked to the Taliban and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. But marijuana plants thrived well before they held sway over much of Afghanistan, and local commanders with large land holdings reportedly benefit from its cultivation. Rouzudin and his fellow farmers made no effort to hide their plants, which loom over nearby cotton bushes. The two crops are interspersed along the road leading to Shibergan, the headquarters of Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, an ethnic Uzbek commander and powerful political figure in the north. Farmer Majid Gul said he can get 5 million Afghanis, or about $100, for 2.2 pounds of hashish, 200 times more than he could earn for the same amount of cotton. "When we're ready to sell, people in big cars will come from the bazaar in town," he said. "We don't know who they are, we just want the money." Complete Title: Despite Government Warnings, Farmers in Northern Afghanistan Say They'll Harvest Marijuana Plants Source: Associated Press Author: Christopher Torchia, Associated Press WriterPublished: Wednesday, September 11, 2002 Copyright: 2002 Associated Press Related Articles:Bush Administration Cut Faustian Deal with Taliban http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10954.shtmlCattlemen in Lebanon Miss Lucre of Hashishhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9276.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by Dan B on September 12, 2002 at 17:47:07 PT:
Marijuana Plant?
They're so open about it that fields of sturdy marijuana plants, some nearly seven feet tall, line part of the main road leading west from Mazar-e-Sharif, the biggest city in northern Afghanistan. Resin from the plant, also known as cannabis, is concentrated to make hashish.Correction: The plant is always known as cannabis, except when mentioned by prohibitionist hacks who are incapable of even the most minute amount of botanical research. Nobody--Nobody who is a scientist or even remotely serious about this plant calls it "marijuana plant." Just a friendly note.Dan B
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Comment #1 posted by goneposthole on September 12, 2002 at 08:04:19 PT
DEA in Afghanistan
I would like to see the DEA go to Afghanistan and uproot their cannabis crops. I wonder how successful the campaign would be? 
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