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InvisibleBridgeburner
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Pot is drug of choice in Afghanistan
    #7430953 - 09/20/07 03:03 AM (16 years, 4 months ago)

http://www.whittierdailynews.com/opinions/ci_6931241

THERE'S good news in Afghanistan's battle against the cultivation of illegal drugs.

In June, the Afghan government declared that the northern province of Balkh had stopped growing opium poppies.

Unfortunately, there is also bad news. Local farmers have replaced their poppy crop with marijuana plants. Local authorities say production is growing at an alarming rate.

"The government has banned he opium poppy," said Nazar Gul, 54, a farmer in the Charbolak district of the province. "Now we have started to plant marijuana, which is also good for us."

Gul said he had little choice but to make the switch.

"I planted poppy last year, but soldiers came to our house to warn us that if we grew it, they'd destroy our homes," he said. "What could we do?"

But he couldn't earn nearly enough to support his family by switching to a legal alternative, such as wheat, he said.

"The best way out was to switch to marijuana, and I hope to make good money this year, too," he said.

Gul offered this comparison between the two crops: "For us farmers, poppy is gold and marijuana is silver."

The province is famed for its high-quality hashish - known as "Balkhshirak."

Atta Mohammad Noor, the provincial governor, admits that the cultivation of marijuana is on the rise in Balkh.

"People did not plant poppy this year, but it seems marijuana has taken its place," he said.

As yet, there are no reliable estimates on the number of acres of marijuana under cultivation. The governor is already complaining, however, that he lacks the resources to combat what he sees as a growing problem.

"Our counter-narcotics department has plans in hand for eradicating marijuana in the province, but who is going to pay for it?" he said.

Noor is still upset at what he sees as the lack of support for his poppy eradication effort.

"We cleared 128 square kilometers of opium poppy last year," he said. "Every year, the international community announces that it is spending millions of dollars on counter-narcotics, but we haven't seen a dime of that money."

Meanwhile, marijuana plants can be seen sprouting up everywhere in the province.

Mohammad Muhsan, another farmer in Charbolak district, explains that the harvested marijuana is divided into two grades: high-quality shirak and lower-quality khaka, or dust.

"Each pound of shirak is worth about $20, while a pound of khaka goes for $10," he said. That's only about 20 percent of what he earned while growing poppies.

Still, Muhsan said marijuana is the best alternative available.

"Marijuana is a very good crop," he said. "We get five times more money from it than from wheat."

Other farmers note that while they may earn less growing marijuana than they did with poppies, it's also an easier crop to maintain.

"We used to have to spend half of what we made just to produce the opium," said Ahmad Shah, another farmer in Chamtal district. "We had to weed the fields and we also had to spend a lot on harvesting. With marijuana, you just plant it, water it a little and then harvest it like wheat. It does not take so much work or money."

A drug trafficker in the Charbolak district, who spoke on condition that his name not be used, said smuggling hashish out of the area was relatively easy.

"I purchase several sacks of hashish from farmers up here and then send it to the south to sell to major traffickers," he said.

"Hashish is mostly smuggled to Pakistan, Iran and Tajikistan, and from these countries it is sent to Europe and other parts of the world."

He added, proudly, "Balkh shirak hashish is very famous around the globe."

Of course, increased production has its down side as well.

"The price of hashish seems to be falling day by day because cultivation of marijuana has increased," the trafficker said.

Afghanistan's counter-narcotics ministry insists it will take as tough a stand on hashish as it did on opium.

"We are committed to getting rid of all types of narcotics in Afghanistan," said ministry spokesman Zalmay Afzali. "We are planning on eradicating marijuana in the provinces."

Then again, the country's previous efforts to stamp out illegal drugs have been spotty at best. For several years now, Afghanistan has been the world's largest supplier of opium, with the past year's harvest reaching a record high.


Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi is a journalist in Afghanistan who writes for The Institute for War & Peace Reporting, a nonprofit organization based in London that trains journalists in areas of conflict.


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OfflineBooby
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Re: Pot is drug of choice in Afghanistan [Re: Bridgeburner]
    #7431089 - 09/20/07 04:47 AM (16 years, 4 months ago)

The dictionary defines caca as baby-talk for 'excrement'. I think it is more than just a coincidence that the lower priced dust is called 'khaka'


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Offlineouthere4
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Re: Pot is drug of choice in Afghanistan [Re: Booby]
    #7431240 - 09/20/07 06:28 AM (16 years, 4 months ago)

too bad pot isn't a narcotic, assholes. "Our counter-narcotics department has plans in hand for eradicating marijuana in the province, but who is going to pay for it?" he said. --why not an ultimate catch-22, legalize marijuana growing, tax the hell out of it and then turn around the money to eradicate the farmers their homes and finally their crops. Oh wait, its probably cause the poor bastards only make 20 dollars a pound for high grade.


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OfflineVisionary Tools
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Re: Pot is drug of choice in Afghanistan [Re: outhere4]
    #7431335 - 09/20/07 07:52 AM (16 years, 4 months ago)

Opium in Oxfordshire, and now cannabis in Afghanistan? The circle turns again.


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InvisibleAlion
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Registered: 08/14/07
Posts: 462
Re: Pot is drug of choice in Afghanistan [Re: Visionary Tools]
    #7431372 - 09/20/07 08:19 AM (16 years, 4 months ago)

now if u smoke pot you are a aterroist.


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InvisibleMrKite1
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Registered: 03/02/04
Posts: 1,384
Loc: AK
Re: Pot is drug of choice in Afghanistan [Re: Bridgeburner]
    #7431478 - 09/20/07 09:08 AM (16 years, 4 months ago)

Quote:

"We are committed to getting rid of all types of narcotics in Afghanistan," said ministry spokesman Zalmay Afzali. "We are planning on eradicating marijuana in the provinces."





Damn it do these drug warriors ever have a one track mind. Until you address the economic motivation for producing these crops eradication will never work entirely. The best you will get is a dent in the problem and a hefty bill for your effort.  :crankey:


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When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.


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InvisibleBridgeburner
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Re: Pot is drug of choice in Afghanistan [Re: MrKite1]
    #7431542 - 09/20/07 09:37 AM (16 years, 4 months ago)

sounds like a job for hillary clinton, wielding her favorite weapon - a swing blade.


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InvisibleEgo Death
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Re: Pot is drug of choice in Afghanistan [Re: Bridgeburner]
    #7431672 - 09/20/07 10:39 AM (16 years, 4 months ago)

Sweet!

If they start supplying as much weed as they did smack, then it will bring the prices down for us stoners!


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InvisibleAlion
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Registered: 08/14/07
Posts: 462
Re: Pot is drug of choice in Afghanistan [Re: Ego Death]
    #7431828 - 09/20/07 11:25 AM (16 years, 4 months ago)

Quote:

Ego Death said:
Sweet!

If they start supplying as much weed as they did smack, then it will bring the prices down for us stoners!




haha i really doubt that prices drop


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Invisibleralphroks
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Registered: 03/25/07
Posts: 553
Loc: Up north passed Alaska
Re: Pot is drug of choice in Afghanistan [Re: Alion]
    #7434416 - 09/20/07 09:33 PM (16 years, 4 months ago)

Quote:

I think it is more than just a coincidence that the lower priced dust is called 'khaka'


Not to discredit your research, but Khaka
is a town in Zabol province Afghanistan North east of Kandahar. Rumor has it thats where to get the good weed.;)


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"Please read and learn and relay knowledge not misinformation! Thank you"-hyphae


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OfflineBooby
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Re: Pot is drug of choice in Afghanistan [Re: ralphroks]
    #7434629 - 09/20/07 10:37 PM (16 years, 4 months ago)

Quote:

ralphroks said:
Quote:

I think it is more than just a coincidence that the lower priced dust is called 'khaka'


Not to discredit your research, but Khaka
is a town in Zabol province Afghanistan North east of Kandahar. Rumor has it thats where to get the good weed.;)




It was the british, I believe, who opened up the oil industry and opium in that part of the world. Therefore it was the british who knew caca when they saw it. (as explained to them by an interpreter, of course.)


Edited by Booby (09/20/07 10:42 PM)


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