Marijuana Cloud Hangs Over Town

[icyfroth]

A huge plume of marijuana smoke is hovering over an Albanian town after a police crackdown on its notorious drug trade.

Heavily armed police were pelted with gunfire, grenades and even mortars as they tried to rid the town of Lazarat, Europe's biggest producer of marijuana, of its main crop, the Associated Press reports.

The hills of the village in the country's south yields around 900 tons of cannabis a year, worth close to $6.5 billion – or nearly half the small country's GDP.

The operation in the village, population 5000, is in its fifth day has seen the destruction of 80,000 plants and more than 12.8 tons of cannabis while 80 houses have been searched.

Residents have reportedly seen the events unfold on live television, burning their own crops as authorities close in.

"What did I do wrong? I just wanted five plants like everybody else," Lumturi Koli, a 42-year-old widower, told Reuters.

"I should have been first to plant them because I have to care for my children."

While thirteen people have been arrested for drug offences and firing on police, miraculously no-one has been killed despite long blasts of gunfire.

Four have been slightly wounded, including two shepherds who were hit by stray rounds.

The raids have been part of an overhaul push by Albania and its new Socialist government to gain entry into the European Union.

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Heavily armed police were pelted with gunfire, grenades and even mortars

People living in small towns have guns, grenades and mortars? So they really are protecting their plantations!

"What did I do wrong? I just wanted five plants like everybody else," Lumturi Koli, a 42-year-old widower, told Reuters.

"I should have been first to plant them because I have to care for my children."

Sheesh, what happened to using land for growing food crops and keeping goats and chickens?

[durruticolumna]

I've always found that term 'gateway' amusing.The people who use that term conveniently leave out the fact that most people start on alcohol and tobacco before they try grass,but they're never considered 'gateway' drugs. I wonder which of the vested interests came uo with that term.

[siggie-reported-by-alarmists]

So, you are aware you  are using one of the most harmful drugs in Australia (according to the Australian Government), purely for

"recreational purposes", yet you believe dying cancer patients, should be denied a therapeutic drug for relief.

1. Do you realise that is incredibly hypocritical?

2. Why do do believe cancer patients should suffer unnecessarily?

3. Why do you believe children who have serious epilepsy should suffer constant seizures, rather than enjoy a close to normal

childhood?

[icyfroth]

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@durruticolumna wrote:
I've always found that term 'gateway' amusing.The people who use that term conveniently leave out the fact that most people start on alcohol and tobacco before they try grass,but they're never considered 'gateway' drugs. I wonder which of the vested interests came uo with that term.

---

There's plenty of "vested interest", Durri, no argument there.

Tobacco Companies

Alcohol Companies

Drug Companies

Pharmaceutical Companies

Food Processing Companies

Governments.

All working hand in hand to get what they can out of Johnny Citizen's carcase.

That does't mean we have to legalise another addictive drug just because others already are.

In fact, if governments were serious about the health of their populace, they'd regulate the big 2 they're already making so much on in licensing fees.

[siggie-reported-by-alarmists]

---

@durruticolumna wrote:
I've always found that term 'gateway' amusing.The people who use that term conveniently leave out the fact that most people start on alcohol and tobacco before they try grass,but they're never considered 'gateway' drugs. I wonder which of the vested interests came uo with that term.

---

 People also conveniently ignore the fact that both alcohol and tobacco cause more deaths in Australia than all the illegal drugs do

combined......why?....because they are the drugs they abuse.

[siggie-reported-by-alarmists]

---

@icyfroth wrote:

---

@durruticolumna wrote:
I've always found that term 'gateway' amusing.The people who use that term conveniently leave out the fact that most people start on alcohol and tobacco before they try grass,but they're never considered 'gateway' drugs. I wonder which of the vested interests came uo with that term.

---

There's plenty of "vested interest", Durri, no argument there.

Tobacco Companies

Alcohol Companies

Drug Companies

Pharmaceutical Companies

Food Processing Companies

Governments.

All working hand in hand to get what they can out of Johnny Citizen's carcase.

That does't mean we have to legalise another addictive drug just because others already are.

In fact, if governments were serious about the health of their populace, they'd regulate the big 2 they're already making so much on in licensing fees.

---

 Doctors prescribe addictive legal drugs everday............why?.... 

[icyfroth]

---

@siggie-reported-by-alarmists wrote:

So, you are aware you  are using one of the most harmful drugs in Australia (according to the Australian Government), purely for

"recreational purposes", yet you believe dying cancer patients, should be denied a therapeutic drug for relief.

1. Do you realise that is incredibly hypocritical?

2. Why do do believe cancer patients should suffer unnecessarily?

3. Why do you believe children who have serious epilepsy should suffer constant seizures, rather than enjoy a close to normal

childhood?

---

I have yet to see any doctor prescribing champagne to alleviate the suffering as listed by you in above post, siggie.

[siggie-reported-by-alarmists]

---

@icyfroth wrote:

---

@siggie-reported-by-alarmists wrote:

So, you are aware you  are using one of the most harmful drugs in Australia (according to the Australian Government), purely for

"recreational purposes", yet you believe dying cancer patients, should be denied a therapeutic drug for relief.

1. Do you realise that is incredibly hypocritical?

2. Why do do believe cancer patients should suffer unnecessarily?

3. Why do you believe children who have serious epilepsy should suffer constant seizures, rather than enjoy a close to normal

childhood?

---

I have yet to see any doctor prescribing champagne to alleviate the suffering as listed by you in above post, siggie.

---

Answer the questions.

[icyfroth]

---

@siggie-reported-by-alarmists wrote:

---

@icyfroth wrote:

---

@durruticolumna wrote:
I've always found that term 'gateway' amusing.The people who use that term conveniently leave out the fact that most people start on alcohol and tobacco before they try grass,but they're never considered 'gateway' drugs. I wonder which of the vested interests came uo with that term.

---

There's plenty of "vested interest", Durri, no argument there.

Tobacco Companies

Alcohol Companies

Drug Companies

Pharmaceutical Companies

Food Processing Companies

Governments.

All working hand in hand to get what they can out of Johnny Citizen's carcase.

That does't mean we have to legalise another addictive drug just because others already are.

In fact, if governments were serious about the health of their populace, they'd regulate the big 2 they're already making so much on in licensing fees.

---

 Doctors prescribe addictive legal drugs everday............why?.... 

---

The word 'prescribe' should give you some idea, siggie.

Prescription means controlled amounts by health care professional and  not available for recreational use as far as I know.

According to another post here, small amount of mj are already being used for medical purposes.

However, most mj plantations supply the illicit drug trade with it's inherent criminality.

That's probably why that planation in Algeria was destroyed by officials.

See what I did there? I brought the thread back to the original topic.

[icyfroth]

---

@siggie-reported-by-alarmists wrote:

---

@icyfroth wrote:

---

@siggie-reported-by-alarmists wrote:

So, you are aware you  are using one of the most harmful drugs in Australia (according to the Australian Government), purely for

"recreational purposes", yet you believe dying cancer patients, should be denied a therapeutic drug for relief.

1. Do you realise that is incredibly hypocritical?

2. Why do do believe cancer patients should suffer unnecessarily?

3. Why do you believe children who have serious epilepsy should suffer constant seizures, rather than enjoy a close to normal

childhood?

---

I have yet to see any doctor prescribing champagne to alleviate the suffering as listed by you in above post, siggie.

---

Answer the questions.

---

I have already done so in a few posts. Maybe not to your satisfaction, but your satisfaction is not my concern.

[durruticolumna]

It's obviously 'hands off' the liquor industry as far as both sides of goverment.They're a powerful lobby group.Any government action to curtail alcohol consumption would be political suicide.We all know the consequences of alcohol abuse in society-the violence,domestic and otherwise,the high number of road fatalities,the serious head injuries in vehicle accidents,the policing,courts,paramedics etc.It's much worse than tobacco.Tobacco companies are not allowed to advertise and the government sees fit to raise the tax on cigararettes triple that of the CPI.Booze however,gets off scot free. In fact in Australia the tax on wine is determined by the quality (price). The better the wine the higher the tax.That's why those cheap and very nasty casks are so inexpensive.