Lebanon's political storms to boost hashish harvest

[bemildred]

Bombs have rained down on Lebanon in the past year and the winds of sectarian strife are still buffeting the country, but this is exactly the kind of political weather that suits hashish farmers in the fertile eastern Bekaa -valley.

“I'm going for broke and I hope that the country falls apart,” is how one small farmer near the hamlet of Alaaq recently put it.

The Lebanese army, already stretched by its deployment in the south after last summer's war between Israel and the militant Hizbollah group, is preoccupied with keeping the peace between rival political factions in Beirut.

Hashish growers in the region, once the breadbasket of Lebanon, are hoping for a weaker than usual annual eradication campaign and a good crop this autumn.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/baecbfb8-0412-11dc-a931-000b5df10621,dwp_uuid=fc3334c0-2f7a-11da-8b51-00000e2511c8,_i_rssPage=fc3334c0-2f7a-11da-8b51-00000e2511c8.html

[Nimrod2005]

1. This has been the case for ages, the government never got involved

In hash...When Syria was there, Syrian army generals benefited financially, at least now the revenues stay in the Lebanese economy.

[madrchsod]

2. never liked middle east hashish

to bitter compared to nepalese/indian hashish. during the 60`s i acquired interesting quarter pound bag printed with a crescent moon and a red star. could it be that commie muslims were running hashish?

[BobRossi]

3. Surfboards!

Yes!