|
Europe:
Albanian
Hemp
Farmers
Freed
as
Judge
Rules
It's
Not
Marijuana
1/13/06
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/418/albania.shtml
For the second time in five
years, Albanian police have arrested farmers growing industrial hemp, and
for the second time in five years, an Albanian judge has told the cops
to knock it off.
In the latest case, five
villagers were jailed for two weeks for growing marijuana before being
freed. When they were arrested, Interior Minister Sokol Olldashi
appeared on a popular Albanian TV show to crow about busting a ton of weed,
Reuters reported. He had no comment this week.
Industrial hemp is easily
distinguished from marijuana by its appearance. Hemp is a tall, stalky,
fibrous plant, while marijuana (cannabis sativa or indica) is a shorter,
bushier plant. Hemp contains no significant levels of THC, the psychoactive
ingredient in marijuana.
"I never imagined I would
be pictured in the newspapers as the head of an international drug ring.
It's one of those things that makes you cry and laugh at the same time,"
said Martin Pellumbi of the Shkrel area farmers' association.
Last time this happened,
a police drug expert lost her job. This time around, the Albanian
government may have to pay. The hemp field was a project of the British
development aid agency Partnership for Growth, whose fields were also victimized
in the 2001 bust. The group told the BBC it lost $100,000 in the
last raid, for which it has not been reimbursed. Now it is preparing
to sue for lost earnings as a result of this raid. Sadly, it also
said it will reconsider its decision to encourage hemp production.
-- END --
|
Issue #418
-- 1/13/06
Feature:
Federal
Meth
Precursor
Sting
Targeting
South
Asian
Convenience
Stores
Draws
Protests,
ACLU
Intervention
|
Feature:
Cannabis
Causing
Schizophrenia
in
British
Marijuana
Policy
|
Feature:
Alito
Hearings
Yield
Inconclusive
but
Mostly
Bad
Forecasts
for
Drug
War
Issues
|
Feature:
In
the
Wake
of
Booker,
Some
Small
Relief
for
a
Small
Fraction
of
Federal
Crack
Cocaine
Offenders
|
Law
Enforcement:
This
Week's
Corrupt
Cops
Stories
|
Sentencing:
Federal
Appeals
Court
Upholds
Mandatory
55-Year
Sentence
for
Man
Who
Sold
Marijuana
While
Armed
|
Sentencing:
New
Jersey
Legislature
Passes
Bill
to
End
Mandatory
Driver
License
Suspensions
for
Drug
Offenders
|
Marijuana:
Bill
to
Recriminalize
Marijuana
in
Alaska
Introduced
and
Moving
|
Europe:
Leading
British
Date
Rape
Drug
is
Alcohol,
Study
Finds
|
Europe:
Albanian
Hemp
Farmers
Freed
as
Judge
Rules
It's
Not
Marijuana
|
Latin
America:
US
Seeking
Talks
with
Bolivia's
Morales
on
Coca,
Trade
|
Web
Scan:
NORML
Animation,
Budapest
Drug
Policy
Dialogue
|
Weekly:
This
Week
in
History
|
Weekly:
The
Reformer's
Calendar
|
This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
Chronicle archives
|
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