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.
Read more Here
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?
@punch*drunk wrote:
Trust me, colics, I lived with someone for years who grew their own.
There was no saving money on grocery money. On the contrary, he'd get the munchies and eat everything in sight. If there was nothing in sight he'd cook himself something and cause more problems through "inattention".
Lost his job because of consant mistakes and accidents through "inattention".
Previously an excellent home handyman sat around the house all day with the dog on his lap, smoking and not lifting a finger to finish his projects or even clean up after himself.
The only "project" he had were his little seedlings and checking every day see if they were mature enough to smoke.
monopolised the microwave to dry them out if they were creating that unmistakeable aroma throughout the house.
Flew into rages if his plants died through overwatering or because he'd left them in a bad position (through "inattention").
I know there a many functioning, more responsible addicts out there, colics, but there are many more who aren't, so please don't try to defend mj to me.
Not to mention it's a known gateway to other, more potent drugs.
Sounds like a lot of the heavy mj users that I know. The worst being my sisters ex, when he couldnt get any he'd be in a constant rage at my sister and the kids. They lived in squalor and homelessness, kids ate mostly 2 minute noodles because a) they didnt have any money for food because it had been spent on his habit and b) the 1 bedroom unit that the 7 of them lived in didnt have a proper kitchen. The only clothes the kids got were hand me downs from my kids, the only birthday/christmas presents came from me. And no, he didnt drink or take harder drugs, this was purely an effect from mj and he's not the only one I know like that.
People make the mistake of thinking their experience is the only real one, just because some havent seen the worst effects of heavy mj use, doesnt mean they dont exist.
You make the observation that the addict spent all the families money on MJ yet you oppose legalisation??
A move that would make the addiction cost free??
So you would prefer that the same situation happened to many more addicts familes??
How can prohibition and how did prohibition help your sisters ex other than to set exhorbitant black market prices for a
herb that grows wild profusely??
Icy Froth mentioned the munchies.... I bet that some reading this thread that are undergoing chemotherapy wish they
"had the munchies"
http://www.jackherer.com/thebook/chapter-twelve/
You must have misunderstood me, I'm after a link from the Epiplepsy Foundation where they say they support the use of marijuana to treat siezures. That link is for some sort of pro marijuana page.
