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?
@siggie-reported-by-alarmists wrote:
I think you will find that this is the link I gave as my reference.
That website is run by fathers of children with epilepsy.
The American Epilepsy Society is calling for more research into the efficacy of marijuana to treat siezures, which of course should be happening. They certainly dont advocate the use of it, particulary in children, until further studies have been done to weigh up the risks involved.
And this page has several studies that might be worth reading.
https://www.aesnet.org/clinical_resources/medical%20marjuana
The Epilepsy Foundation will be doing the following to support improved access and research into medical marijuana:Calling on the
Drug Enforcement Administration to implement a lesser schedule for marijuana so that it can be more easily accessible for medical
research.Supporting appropriate changes to state laws to increase access to medical marijuana as a treatment option for epilepsy,
including pediatric use as supported by a treating physician.Supporting the inclusion of epilepsy as a condition that uses medical
marijuana as a treatment option where it is currently available.Supporting research on multiple forms of cannabis and seizures.
@siggie-reported-by-alarmists wrote:
@siggie-reported-by-alarmists wrote:I think you will find that this is the link I gave as my reference.
This study shows some of the adverse side affects that should be taken into account when using marijuana, many other links to studies on that page too.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3479587/
@punch*drunk wrote:And this page has several studies that might be worth reading.
https://www.aesnet.org/clinical_resources/medical%20marjuana
Yes, the AES position statement says that evidence for medical marijuana is promising.
@polksaladallie wrote:
@punch*drunk wrote:This study shows some of the adverse side affects that should be taken into account when using marijuana, many other links to studies on that page too.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3479587/
Surely no-one disputes that no mind-altering substance including alcohol should be used before the brain stops growing.
Does that mean that adults should be prevented from using those same substances for the next 50 years of their lives?
I dont think anybody should be denied helpful treatments provided there is enough evidence to show the benefits outweigh the risks. So far the studies arent supporting that in many cases. Without reading through all the pages it seems there needs to be some sort of reclassification done before more research is possible. That sort of red tape is just silly.
