Marijuana in South Africa.

barden · 08-26-2005, 07:39 AM

Some insight. This article is pretty damn accurate. I enjoyed it:

After hours of scrambling over rugged mountain terrain, Swaziland's
drug squad finally find what they're looking for: a secret field
packed with some of the world's strongest dagga.

Prized for its potency across the world, "Swazi Gold" is grown in the
remote northern mountains of this tiny African kingdom, then smuggled
into neighbouring South Africa and on to Europe and North America.

Police in impoverished Swaziland say that despite dousing acres of
towering plants with deadly insecticide, they are losing the war on
dagga to dirt-poor peasants bent on protecting their most lucrative
crop.

"We can't win this war," says inspector Ngwane Dlamini, head of
criminal investigation in the northern region of Hhohho.

"This is just a drop in the ocean - the people are poor and they can
get much more money for marijuana than maize or vegetables," he says
as he sniffs at a 2m plant in one makeshift field north of the
regional capital Pigg's Peak.

A handful of drug lords buy and sell Swaziland's marijuana - the
world's most popular illegal drug - but most of the growing is done by
subsistence farmers desperate for cash after four years of drought and
hefty job cuts.

According to Swaziland's Council Against Drug and Alcohol Abuse, about
70 percent of small farmers in the Hhohho region, where mountainous
terrain makes growing maize tough, turn to dagga.

The world's top law enforcement agency, Interpol, says Southern
Africa, including Swaziland, has the potential to overtake key dagga
producers like Morocco, and already sends major shipments to the west.

Like thousands of other peasant farmers in Hhohho, a woman who
identifies herself only as Khanyesile ekes out a living from 30 limp
dagga plants hidden in thick undergrowth behind her rickety shack.

"My husband died and I lost my job at the local furniture factory - I
needed money to feed my five children and send them to school," she
says from beneath a flowered headscarf.

Khanyesile, 45, has been jailed and fined for her dagga. Police have
twice sprayed and burned her tiny fields and once local thieves stole
the entire crop just before harvesting.

But a patchy income from selling shiny stones to tourists at the side
of the road is not enough to feed her family, and she has no intention
of giving up her plants despite the threat of up to six years in
prison.

"You can't get money for maize... and it is difficult to grow, but a
man from South Africa comes every month to buy my dagga," she says.

Most of her neighbours, Khanyesile says, also grow dagga, and
homesteads club together to minimise risk for the man from South
Africa, who arrives on foot across the mountains.

"I don't understand why the police want to stop us growing dagga - it
is the only way we can make money."

Police say that although peasants like Khanyesile are harmless enough,
some of the bigger growers are swapping dagga for illegal firearms
from South Africa and Mozambique, prompting a rise in gun crime in
this sleepy nation.

Armed with a couple of assault rifles and several litres of
insecticide, Dlamini's drug squad scours the region daily for dagga
plantations in a bid to contain the industry.

"Look, they've left traces," shouts Dlamini to his colleagues as they
tramp through the forest, holding up the distinctive five-speared leaf
of a dagga plant.

But he knows that even if they find the field, the country is teeming
with thousands more.

The bigger growers penetrate the country's furthest-flung valleys,
hiking deep into the forests across crocodile-infested rivers to avoid
police.

"It is everywhere. At every stream or river the banks are full of
dagga," says squad member Hoare, decked out in waterproof overalls
with a spray gun in his hand.

Swazi marijuana, which is said to be more potent due to the soil and
weather conditions, fetches a handsome premium.

On the streets of Johannesburg, Swazi Gold is sold in 30g small bank
bags, or "bankies", for R70 apiece, while Amsterdam coffee shops
charge the equivalent of around R50 for one gram.

Khanyesile says she gets around R1 000 for 2kg.

Police have seized 285kg of dagga so far this year and destroyed
roughly 197 hectares - a fraction of the total, says Albert Mkhatshwa,
head of the national drugs unit.

Small-fry dealers smuggle out their stash on foot while the big guys
find myriad ways to sneak their goods past customs. Police recently
stopped a giant wooden fish headed for Italy packed with at least 30kg
of compressed weed.

But many experts say police are wasting their time, since dagga is
embedded in Swazi culture, smoked for centuries by farmers and used
for medicine by traditional healers.

Dlamini says even the chief of his home village would smoke a dagga
pipe twice a day as an accepted part of Swazi tradition.

And some local health workers argue dagga could help in the fight
against HIV and Aids, which affects around 40 percent of the adult
population.

"In terms of HIV, sometimes it can boost the immune system," says
Madzabudzabu Kunene, who co-ordinates the Swaziland Aids Support
Organisation in Hhohho.

"It can help in boosting appetite, that is proven." – Reuters

dean moriaty · 08-26-2005, 07:48 AM

that dudes got his 'cides wrong. i'm pretty sure the police wouldn't go round spraying insecticide on weed crops cause that'd make them grow better if anything :erm

barden · 08-26-2005, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dean moriaty
that dudes got his 'cides wrong. i'm pretty sure the police wouldn't go round spraying insecticide on weed crops cause that'd make them grow better if anything :erm

Nah, powerful ones just kill the fuckers off. Or they affect the growth. They make them all funky and skinny and THC levels drop and such.

I have some personal experience on the subject too, with a natural, supposedly ‘mild’ insecticide. Ruined the plants, fuckers.

Hillzy · 08-26-2005, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by barden

Nah, powerful ones just kill the fuckers off. Or they affect the growth. They make them all funky and skinny and THC levels drop and such.

I have some personal experience on the subject too, with a natural, supposedly ‘mild’ insecticide. Ruined the plants, fuckers.

I think you missed his point - they would use a herbicide. An insecticide would just be helping the growers.

Luke de Spa · 08-26-2005, 09:15 AM

No, he's likely right. Herbicides are designed to kill weeds and insecticides are designed to kill insects, but it hardly follows from that that they ONLY affect weeds and insects respectively. Plenty of commercially-used insecticides have been banned because of their adverse affects on non-insect species. DDT is probably the best example.

Hillzy · 08-26-2005, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lucky Day Spa
No, he's likely right. Herbicides are designed to kill weeds and insecticides are designed to kill insects, but it hardly follows from that that they ONLY affect weeds and insects respectively. Plenty of commercially-used insecticides have been banned because of their adverse affects on non-insect species. DDT is probably the best example.

Surely if it an insecticide has a herbicidal effect then it is a herbicide too by definition?

TIMb · 08-26-2005, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Hillzy
Surely if it an insecticide has a herbicidal effect then it is a herbicide too by definition?

yeah, it's like if you're a straight guy and fuck men. you're bi. or gay. actually, i'm not sure it's the same at all.

Luke de Spa · 08-26-2005, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Hillzy

Surely if it an insecticide has a herbicidal effect then it is a herbicide too by definition?

Herbicides are intended to kill weeds, not weed.

If ranger dudes are going round using an insectide to kill marijuana plants then yes, it's being used as a herbicide. Thing is, most insecticides are poisons, so in high enough concentrations they'll kill pretty much anything.

dean moriaty · 08-26-2005, 12:09 PM

but why not just use a hebicide?

Luke de Spa · 08-26-2005, 12:38 PM

Maybe commercial herbicides don't kill marijuana. Maybe commercial herbicides kill plants whose survival is desirable. Maybe commercial insecticides are cheaper. I bet there's a reason! Let's keep going for kicks. Maybe commercial herbicides don't taste as good to ranger dudes. Maybe commercial insecticides can be sold to the locals as an HIV preventative. Maybe it's a conspiracy on the part of the insecticide industry! Those wily Insecticiders are always trying to bring down the noble and honorable Herbicybots. Maybe this is a plot to tarnish the good name of Herbicybots by failiing to do any measurable harm to the Evil Marijuana plants (brought to Earth millions of years ago by the same Insecticiders working towards completion of their secret evil agenda THIS VERY DAY). Does this sound plausible? How about the Insecticiders are trying to find a way to turn insects... into cider... and they need to synthesise the psychotropic effects of marijuana into the beverage in order to produce a better product than regular cider. What has this got to do with destroying marijuana crops? Nothing, but isn't it obvious that it all ties in somehow on a deeper level? Are you with me Dean?

Hillzy · 08-26-2005, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lucky Day Spa
Maybe commercial herbicides don't kill marijuana. Maybe commercial herbicides kill plants whose survival is desirable. Maybe commercial insecticides are cheaper. I bet there's a reason! Let's keep going for kicks. Maybe commercial herbicides don't taste as good to ranger dudes. Maybe commercial insecticides can be sold to the locals as an HIV preventative. Maybe it's a conspiracy on the part of the insecticide industry! Those wily Insecticiders are always trying to bring down the noble and honorable Herbicybots. Maybe this is a plot to tarnish the good name of Herbicybots by failiing to do any measurable harm to the Evil Marijuana plants (brought to Earth millions of years ago by the same Insecticiders working towards completion of their secret evil agenda THIS VERY DAY). Does this sound plausible? How about the Insecticiders are trying to find a way to turn insects... into cider... and they need to synthesise the psychotropic effects of marijuana into the beverage in order to produce a better product than regular cider. What has this got to do with destroying marijuana crops? Nothing, but isn't it obvious that it all ties in somehow on a deeper level? Are you with me Dean?

There are heaps of herbicides with differing specificities, lots of them will kill weed. My point was just that if this insecticide is being used as a herbicide, the author would have been just as well off to use the term herbicide. Just me being pedantic really.

Luke de Spa · 08-27-2005, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Hillzy

There are heaps of herbicides with differing specificities, lots of them will kill weed. My point was just that if this insecticide is being used as a herbicide, the author would have been just as well off to use the term herbicide. Just me being pedantic really.

So you don't think there's a conspiracy afoot?!?!

08-26-2005, 07:39 AM	#1
barden Braindead Location: The Ghetto Posts: 19,611	Marijuana in South Africa. Some insight. This article is pretty damn accurate. I enjoyed it: After hours of scrambling over rugged mountain terrain, Swaziland's drug squad finally find what they're looking for: a secret field packed with some of the world's strongest dagga. Prized for its potency across the world, "Swazi Gold" is grown in the remote northern mountains of this tiny African kingdom, then smuggled into neighbouring South Africa and on to Europe and North America. Police in impoverished Swaziland say that despite dousing acres of towering plants with deadly insecticide, they are losing the war on dagga to dirt-poor peasants bent on protecting their most lucrative crop. "We can't win this war," says inspector Ngwane Dlamini, head of criminal investigation in the northern region of Hhohho. "This is just a drop in the ocean - the people are poor and they can get much more money for marijuana than maize or vegetables," he says as he sniffs at a 2m plant in one makeshift field north of the regional capital Pigg's Peak. A handful of drug lords buy and sell Swaziland's marijuana - the world's most popular illegal drug - but most of the growing is done by subsistence farmers desperate for cash after four years of drought and hefty job cuts. According to Swaziland's Council Against Drug and Alcohol Abuse, about 70 percent of small farmers in the Hhohho region, where mountainous terrain makes growing maize tough, turn to dagga. The world's top law enforcement agency, Interpol, says Southern Africa, including Swaziland, has the potential to overtake key dagga producers like Morocco, and already sends major shipments to the west. Like thousands of other peasant farmers in Hhohho, a woman who identifies herself only as Khanyesile ekes out a living from 30 limp dagga plants hidden in thick undergrowth behind her rickety shack. "My husband died and I lost my job at the local furniture factory - I needed money to feed my five children and send them to school," she says from beneath a flowered headscarf. Khanyesile, 45, has been jailed and fined for her dagga. Police have twice sprayed and burned her tiny fields and once local thieves stole the entire crop just before harvesting. But a patchy income from selling shiny stones to tourists at the side of the road is not enough to feed her family, and she has no intention of giving up her plants despite the threat of up to six years in prison. "You can't get money for maize... and it is difficult to grow, but a man from South Africa comes every month to buy my dagga," she says. Most of her neighbours, Khanyesile says, also grow dagga, and homesteads club together to minimise risk for the man from South Africa, who arrives on foot across the mountains. "I don't understand why the police want to stop us growing dagga - it is the only way we can make money." Police say that although peasants like Khanyesile are harmless enough, some of the bigger growers are swapping dagga for illegal firearms from South Africa and Mozambique, prompting a rise in gun crime in this sleepy nation. Armed with a couple of assault rifles and several litres of insecticide, Dlamini's drug squad scours the region daily for dagga plantations in a bid to contain the industry. "Look, they've left traces," shouts Dlamini to his colleagues as they tramp through the forest, holding up the distinctive five-speared leaf of a dagga plant. But he knows that even if they find the field, the country is teeming with thousands more. The bigger growers penetrate the country's furthest-flung valleys, hiking deep into the forests across crocodile-infested rivers to avoid police. "It is everywhere. At every stream or river the banks are full of dagga," says squad member Hoare, decked out in waterproof overalls with a spray gun in his hand. Swazi marijuana, which is said to be more potent due to the soil and weather conditions, fetches a handsome premium. On the streets of Johannesburg, Swazi Gold is sold in 30g small bank bags, or "bankies", for R70 apiece, while Amsterdam coffee shops charge the equivalent of around R50 for one gram. Khanyesile says she gets around R1 000 for 2kg. Police have seized 285kg of dagga so far this year and destroyed roughly 197 hectares - a fraction of the total, says Albert Mkhatshwa, head of the national drugs unit. Small-fry dealers smuggle out their stash on foot while the big guys find myriad ways to sneak their goods past customs. Police recently stopped a giant wooden fish headed for Italy packed with at least 30kg of compressed weed. But many experts say police are wasting their time, since dagga is embedded in Swazi culture, smoked for centuries by farmers and used for medicine by traditional healers. Dlamini says even the chief of his home village would smoke a dagga pipe twice a day as an accepted part of Swazi tradition. And some local health workers argue dagga could help in the fight against HIV and Aids, which affects around 40 percent of the adult population. "In terms of HIV, sometimes it can boost the immune system," says Madzabudzabu Kunene, who co-ordinates the Swaziland Aids Support Organisation in Hhohho. "It can help in boosting appetite, that is proven." – Reuters

08-26-2005, 07:48 AM	#2
dean moriaty lion of saloons Location: ^ Posts: 7,370	that dudes got his 'cides wrong. i'm pretty sure the police wouldn't go round spraying insecticide on weed crops cause that'd make them grow better if anything :erm

08-26-2005, 09:15 AM	#5
Luke de Spa someone more...punk rock? Location: Ice cream pig out in M1-aud is why i don't play plug in baby the wrong way, like you Posts: 22,217	No, he's likely right. Herbicides are designed to kill weeds and insecticides are designed to kill insects, but it hardly follows from that that they ONLY affect weeds and insects respectively. Plenty of commercially-used insecticides have been banned because of their adverse affects on non-insect species. DDT is probably the best example.

08-26-2005, 12:09 PM	#9
dean moriaty lion of saloons Location: ^ Posts: 7,370	but why not just use a hebicide?

08-26-2005, 12:38 PM	#10
Luke de Spa someone more...punk rock? Location: Ice cream pig out in M1-aud is why i don't play plug in baby the wrong way, like you Posts: 22,217	Maybe commercial herbicides don't kill marijuana. Maybe commercial herbicides kill plants whose survival is desirable. Maybe commercial insecticides are cheaper. I bet there's a reason! Let's keep going for kicks. Maybe commercial herbicides don't taste as good to ranger dudes. Maybe commercial insecticides can be sold to the locals as an HIV preventative. Maybe it's a conspiracy on the part of the insecticide industry! Those wily Insecticiders are always trying to bring down the noble and honorable Herbicybots. Maybe this is a plot to tarnish the good name of Herbicybots by failiing to do any measurable harm to the Evil Marijuana plants (brought to Earth millions of years ago by the same Insecticiders working towards completion of their secret evil agenda THIS VERY DAY). Does this sound plausible? How about the Insecticiders are trying to find a way to turn insects... into cider... and they need to synthesise the psychotropic effects of marijuana into the beverage in order to produce a better product than regular cider. What has this got to do with destroying marijuana crops? Nothing, but isn't it obvious that it all ties in somehow on a deeper level? Are you with me Dean?