https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/380/fijihearing.shtml

While pot production in the South Pacific island nation of Fiji may not be a big deal in the global scheme of things -- neither the US State Department nor the International Narcotics Control Board even mentions Fijian marijuana cultivation -- it remains a controversial topic at home. As DRCNet has previously noted, police and marijuana farmers in the Navosa highlands clashed last fall during eradication campaigns, and the topic has led to much public hand-wringing by politicians since then.

Now, the Fiji Times reported, a Fijian senate ad-hoc committee on drugs and vice has held a public hearing on pot growing in the heart of the Navosa region, and they got an earful from local residents. Marijuana cultivation is traditional and should be excused, villagers told the committee chaired by Sen. Viliame Navoka. People grow marijuana for understandable reasons, villagers said, and by the end of the day it sounded like they had convinced Navoka.

"For generations the villagers of Navosa have had to travel down mountainous and rugged terrains to reach a road and a few hours more before they can get to the market to sell their produce," Navoka said. "Some have to cross rivers with water up to tire-level and, by the time they reach the market, there is no guarantee their produce will all be sold. They are still facing the same economic hardships their ancestors faced years ago. Some of them said that is why they have no choice but to resort to marijuana growing. The product is lighter, it has a steady market and is economically viable," he said.

Navoka added that the committee was "impressed" with some of the large homes and furniture apparently purchased with pot profits, but that villagers were concerned about the impact of marijuana use on the youth, "most of whom had become too lazy to farm." Villagers blamed modern human rights law for making it difficult to enforce traditional customs frowning on such activities. "The villagers emphasized that illegal drugs and social problems could be controlled through the strict observance and preservation of the Fijian culture and tradition," Navoka noted.

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