Lebanon hash farmers battle polics

[LuckyPunch]

Lebanon hash farmers battle police, army to save crops




Farmers in the Bekaa valley open fire on security forces to prevent them carrying out a new government campaign to eradicate their cannabis fields, the area's major moneymaker




Farmers in Lebanon's Bekaa valley are resisting a government campaign to destroy their cannabis crops, fighting armed battles with Lebanese police and military, the country's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported.
Lebanon's government launched a campaign to eradicate the Bekaa's cannabis fields last Monday.

Clashes between farmers and police have involved submachine guns, with at least three officers wounded, according to the Saudi-based Al-Arabiya news network.

Farmers also blocked the entrance to a local village, Yammouneh, with burning tyres. Protesters there reportedly attacked Lebanese troops but were dispersed when the army shot in the air.

The growing of cannabis is officially outlawed in Lebanon but has long bean a major source of income in the Bekaa valley. Farmers have called for compensation if their crops are destroyed.

“We will continue the protests until the state provides us with an alternative,” Mohamed Sherif, the mayor of Yammouneh toldNNA.

Sherif said that security forces should refrain from attacking their crops if they did not wish to be in danger. He also called on Lebanese politicians to visit the region and observe living conditions.

“We don’t aim to fight security bodies but we will defend our main source of income," said Joesef Selim, a protester.

Lebanon is one of the world's leading growers of cannabis, with production centred in the Bekaa Valley.

During Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, the fertile valley bordering Syria produced up to 1,000 metric tons of cannabis resin per year. It also gew 30-50 metric
tonnes of opium, used to make heroin.

The trade blossomed into a multi-billion dollar business until a United Nations campaign at attempted to stamp it out in the early 1990s. It later reemerged.








http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsCon...sh-farmers-battle-police,-army-to-save-c.aspx

 

[Sensi*]

w00t

 

[señorsloth]

hellz yeah...i wish i lived in an area like that, where growers are the majority and can actually stand up for themselves, take a stand against corrupt governments...this is of course because we offer these country's several million dollars to continue the fight each year, countries like India accept the money from our government, knowing that the pot is not bad and it's important to the economy....the farmers plant decoy fields on the lower mountains for the security forces to cut down and they grow their real stuff higher in the Himalayas...that way india gets funding from usa, security forces get jobs for a month or two, and the growers don't lose their crops, and the smokers don't lose their product...those same security forces eradicating crops all day are smoking hash in the bar at the end of the day...they are basically gaming the system and they should...our government is so fu&#ed that they need to send millions and billions abroad just to keep their little secrets, to help their own corporations, and fill their own wallets...we all lose when we let them play this game and they have been doing it for close to 80 years...overgrow the country!