Legalize it!

The second installment of al-Akhbar's dossier on Hasish in Lebanon. interesting stuff: revenue per hectare: $10,000 if irrigated, $4,500 if not. And for opium poppies: $20,000 per irrigated hectare. They also list a number of crops that can be used, not to replace hashish, but to diversify agriculture in the bekaa. some of the options are quite good, like cherries or aromatic plants. problem is these things do not just materialize out of thin air. They have first to be made into policy and then to be part of a systematic development program focusing on the small holder, and including various aspects starting with access to land and water and ending with quality control, markets and branding. Who has time for that now? who will have time for that tomorrow?