Afghanistan Cannabis Crop Up 40 Percent--Finally, some good news from Afganjastan.

[tekisui]

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The fields of Balkh province in northern Afghanistan were free of opium poppies this year, a success touted often by Afghan and international officials. But one look at Mohammad Alam's fields uncovers an emerging drug problem.

Ten-foot-tall cannabis plants flourish in Alam's fields. The crop — the source of both marijuana and hashish — can be just as profitable as opium but draws none of the scrutiny from Afghan officials bent on eradicating poppies.

Cannabis cultivation rose 40 percent in Afghanistan this year, to 173,000 acres from 123,550 in 2006, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime estimated in its 2007 opium survey. The crop is being grown in at least 18 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, according to the survey released last month.

The U.N. report singles out Balkh as a "leading example" of an opium-free province, saying other areas should follow "the model of this northern region where leadership, incentives and security have led farmers to turn their backs on opium

more at link... http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i5Udg8Fs_PaswqTw90K9nHi2LRqgD8T66BS80

[XemaSab]

1. K&R for the Palouse Earthworm!

:patiort:

[Bozita]

2. Found! ... A cash crop for Afganjastan.

[mark414]

3. 10 feet tall? time to join the army and go to afghanistan....

[eridani]

8. I think that Fat Freddy has already pointed out--

--that they are male plants. :evilgrin:

[ShaneGR]

21. Actually, I'm looking at the pictures, they're both male & female

Male for the hemp, female for the drug and the hemp.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

4. Time to run naked through the fields and scrape honey-oil off

my newly shaven body! Woo Hoooooo!

[RaleighNCDUer]

5. Ooh, boy, I remember Afghan Blond hash from(sheesh) 30 years ago.

Only comparable smoke I ever had was genuine Thai stick. Also 30 years ago.

I feel old.

[Fly by night]

19. It was the opium that made the Thai sticks so strong.

No shit.

[BrotherBuzz]

25. Afghan hash was often laced with opium back in the early seventies, too.

No shit.

[Mnemosyne]

22. Thai stick

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

[DCKit]

6. I'll bet it's the good shit too!

Just read that something like 90% of the eradication effort here has targeted "ditch weed." At that level, we're getting seriously ripped off at both extremes.

It's bad enough that the war on drugs is actually a war on citizens who commit no other crimes, but to spend the amount of money they do to eradicate the wild shit that would turn most teenagers OFF to smoking is fucking INSANE.

[Kucinich4America]

7. God, it's the 80's all over again....

Seemed to be all there was to smoke for a while in high school. The old "Ghanni" weed.

And speaking of the 80's and Afghanistan.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Guc-DQ0vXFc

[Prophet 451]

9. cannabis isn't a "drug problem", it's an export trade

Given that so many things can be made from cannabis (and that's even after you discount the psychoactive effects), it wouldn't take an economic wizard to make growing pot into the cornerstone of the local economy. If someone was thinking straight, Afghanistan could end up with a roaring economy focused on producing textiles, cooking oil and cosmetics, all made out of hemp.

That's a cash crop, right there.

[killbotfactory]

10. It's an extremely useful plant

Much better than opium.

[reggie the dog]

11. great news

I am looking forward to a further drop in price. Afgan hash of good quality was 3 euros a gram in Amsterdam last month. We tried it, it was cheap as hell but damn it had a punch.

[AlecBGreen]

12. holy cow! 173,000 acres!?

thats 270 square miles of pot!

[madokie]

13. Its going to be hard to light up this south of the border stuff I have

but not that hard mind you

[libodem]

14. Yeah, baby

that's what I'm talkin' about...

[Marrah_G]

15. It would be better news if the money for it didn't go to inhumane monsters.

I do not understand why they haven't just destroyed all the drug fields over there. Cut off the money and you cut off the Taliban's power.

Besides Pot and Hemp should be legal and grown here. And that comes from someone who doesn't smoke it ! (though I might if it were legal !)

[AntiFascist]

23. Um, actually it's the opposite....

The Taliban actually ended up banning opium production in 2000, but the US has since propped up regional drug lords:


http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0304d.asp

Since the Bush administration toppled the Taliban regime, opium production in Afghanistan has increased from 185 tons in 2001 to 3,700 tons in 2002 — an increase of twentyfold. Afghanistan has historically produced more than two-thirds of the world opium supply and the resurgence of Afghan production is good news for heroin addicts everywhere.

...

In July 2000, Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar announced that he was banning any poppy growing in Afghanistan because it was henceforth considered to be un-Islamic. The Taliban regime had previously profited from a 10 percent tax on the opium (a much lower tax rate than cigarettes face in America).

So, isn't the Bush administration cool? It's actually pro-drugs. No wonder Karl Rove turned gangsta.

:sarcasm:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

24. Yeah, right.

Pot causes terrorism.

Gasoline spreads democracy.

[Elidor]

16. As a true patriot, I have to say:

Buy American.

[madokie]

17. I've smoked it all

afghanistan, cambodian, tia sticks, tons of south american and the best I've smoked was grown by me and a friend several years back. one toke all day high, two tokes and you couldn't leave the house for all day. haven't planted a seed in years now though

[Fly by night]

18. How could the CIA have let this happen? Don't they know heroin is easier to export than pot?

Now Bush will have to go to Congress to request another appropriation so the CIA can purchase more cargo ships to move their "product".

[Ganja Ninja]

20. If we legalized and bought it from them it might give them some

incentive to not grow opium. Then again it might give our own farmers a new source of income.