Lebanon Hashish Growers and the Government Face Off

Despite the security preparations, hashish growers in the Bekaa are optimistic about the season.

Lebanon: Hashish Growers and the Government Face Off
By: Rameh Hamieh – 13 July, 2012 – Al Akhbar

(Photo: Alia Haju)

It is hard to predict how this year’s planned destruction of the hashish crop in the Bekaa will play out.

The farmers insist on confronting any such attempt, and the security forces are “determined” to destroy the cannabis crop.

While the security forces continue with their preparations – which include communicating with the owners of agricultural tractors as well as coordinating with the leadership of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the Internal Security Forces (ISF) – hashish growers are adamant that they will “protect their livelihood.”

Fighting the coming invasion is the farmers’ last resort after the state deserted them by “abandoning any attempt to address agricultural problems, support traditional crops, and compensate losses resulting from natural disasters or any downturn in agricultural production in light of the Syrian crisis,” according to one farmer.

Despite the security preparations, hashish growers in the Bekaa are optimistic that the season “will pan out just like I see you and you see me,” says Abu Ali, as he checks the irrigation of his cannabis field and the stems which have grown over 70cm.

A written statement warned that the farmers “will deal with the hired workers as enemies, because they are conspiring against people from their area for a little bit of money.”
As he rubs the green leaf in his hand and smells its strong scent, this 50-something-year old man says that he bases his conclusion on the overall security situation in the country.

“Lawlessness is everywhere and they don’t dare confront anyone, so why should we be any different? Are we lesser mortals?” he asks, adding: “They should feel for us a little bit.”

Abu Ali does not hide the fact that many farmers “sowed their land – no matter how small – with cannabis seeds, because they are convinced the season will pan out,” pointing out that large areas “for as far as your eyes can see have been planted in Baalbek-Hermel.”

Hanna, a resident of a village in west Baalbek, says the responsibility “falls on the shoulders of the Lebanese state and some of its security agencies.”

He accuses these agencies of intimating to farmers that “no one will touch the hashish. Then they scouted the planted areas, took pictures of them from airplanes, and sent them to international institutions to collect funds in order to destroy them.”

Hanna asks political and party leaders to intervene to prevent the destruction operation this year. He refuses to believe that “the decision to destroy the hashish crop was taken by the security forces alone.”

Tractor owners, who are brought in to uproot the cannabis fields, have not been spared from the threats made by farmers. …more