[elmanito]

Parvati Valley in northern India is a place where the finest hashish of the world comes from. The 'Manali Cream' is known all over the world for its incredible and amazing quality. I had the luck to visit that area in The Himalayas a few years ago and one of my goals while being there was to score some of that famous 'Charas'. Well, that was not difficult, trust me, it's all over the place. The people in that area are very poor and the cultivation and production of hashish gives them the possibility to make a better living for themselves.

Although it's illegal over there, just as anywhere else, the police did not seem to care. Besides the fact that smoking hashish is completely incorporated in the Indian culture, that area in northern India is so incredible huge, that it's practically impossible to really do something serious against the cultivation of cannabis. But every now and then, a new police chief stands up and tries to make name for himself by going into the valley and destroying all the cannabis fields he can find.

The video below is from 2 French journalists who went along with such an officer into the Parvati Valley. It perfectly shows how totally useless it is trying to destroy the hashish culture in India. Cannabis grows there even next to the police station (huh, they don't even notice?!) and during the destruction of a field of cannabis plants one of the police officers quickly tries to make some hashish for himself. I almost pissed my pants...

My link

Namaste

[Stonehenge]

That report is great. Cheers Elmanito.

That copper gets a fair lump of charas for his ten minutes work fairplay!

Normalisation in action!

[KimboSlice]

if i've learnt anything from this video it's that

i really, really want some

and

i hope santa sees this post

[namkha]

awesome

thanks for sharing!

2011 was a really big eradication drive, that's for sure

the great thing about this report is how it highlights that it is the Nepali migrant labourers brought in to do the work who get hit hardest

they will be the ones who get it

if the new chief gets ideas and starts going after the big operators he will just be out on his arse before he knows it

so he victimises the easiest most vulnerable targets --- the Nepalese migrant workers, who are dirt poor and some of the hardest working people on the planet

as the video makes clear, many of the players in this bizarre game prohibition has created are not big fish - they are the minnows...

Himalayan cannabis needs protecting, not cutting down --- arseholes who bring in Western hybrid genetics are doing their bit to mess things up, while ignorant busy cops are doing their best to cut down as much as they can

it's a fucking disgrace basically

the irony is that this eradication will not only have made the % of the farmers whose crops were not cut down richer, it will stimulate more planting next year - as it drives the prices up

and farmers whose crops were cut down last year, who lost a whole year's income, have an added incentive to plant more as well

edited to add a 'not'

This post has been edited by namkha: 15 March 2012 - 04:25 AM

[Rinse]

Good post namkha, peoples ignorance never ceases to amaze me. The drugs "war" is like a movie being played to distract from the reality of the situation.

Who are the bigger producers in the Himalayas and what would the cops face if they went after them?

[squeasel]

fascinating landscape, history and people
it's amazing to see how hard the peple are working to cair for there feilds and in effect there familys.
very misguided to prohidit cannabis, much politics/nationlisium and making a name for one's self involved in the distriction of peoples livleyhood.
cannabis is not criminal, distroying hardworking familys livlyhood, there food and belongings is criminal and unethical.
cannabis is safe, nonaddictive and beuatyfull, there is minimal/no harm from it, the farmers should be left in peace, many people need it just to feed there familys.

[Ganjasattva]

Elmanito, thanks for the great post, I really enjoyed it!

[namkha]

Should cultivation of high end marijuana from Himachal be legalized?
http://hillpost.in/2...eneral/ravinder
November 12, 2012

Shimla: As politics of marijuana advocacy sobers up America, residents of Kullu valley meekly look for a way out from the draconian Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) law to cultivate and trade charas, something that always was a way of life till Parliament criminalized it in 1985.

“With Colorado and Washington, two states of America, voting in favour of legalizing recreational use of marijuana (Charas) on November 7, its time the Indian authorities realized the futility criminalizing the socio-cultural and functional uses of cannabis growing in Kullu valley,” Vikas Thakur (name changed), a resident of Kullu valley that is famous for producing the world’s best charas.

The courts in Kullu valley and other places in Himachal Pradesh, including the High Court, testify to the flourishing illegal trade as they have many cases pending related to Indians and foreigners booked under NDPS Act either for trading in the contraband or for possessing small quantities of charas for recreational uses.

Malana cream is the best charas the world produces,” says Thakur, “but the entire operation of producing it is carried out in an illegal manner in an otherwise underdeveloped and impoverished valley of Kullu.”

Growing marijuana was permitted under British colonial rule but it turned suspect after hippie culture invaded the valley in the 1960s and its cultivation was made illegal under Section 20 of NDPS in 1985 which concerns ‘Punishment for contravention in relation to cannabis plant and cannabis’, with those found in violation attracting a jail term of 10 years.

Despite a cultivation ban, police officials involved in containing the contraband trade on the side admit that Himachal is the largest producer of charas in the country, contributing as much as 25 percent of the total production.

Daniela Berti, a French social anthropologist and a Center for Himalayan Studies researcher in her 2011 study ‘Trials, Witnesses, and Local Stakes in a District Court of Himachal Pradesh’ concludes that commitments made by India, nationally and internationally, “in the field of narcotics control have led to an increase in the criminalization of a formerly widespread practice culturally approved by some villagers.

“Indeed, cannabis cultivation is now under the control of national and international dealers, who even encourage villagers to plant cannabis in fields previously reserved for ordinary crops,” observes the researcher in the paper.

“Domestic and traditional use of cannabis may persist, but when a villager cultivates cannabis today it is also, first and foremost, to respond to a market demand,” mentions Berti.

“Surely all do not visit Manali for its scenic beauty,” says Thakur, “some come for the grass (dope). So be it, for it depends what kind of a holiday one is looking for.”

Earlier a study ‘Drug Trade in Himachal Pradesh’ financed by UNESCO Management of Social Transformation Program and done Molly Charles in 2001 pointed out cannabis products were used by villagers to perform religious ceremonies (like Shivaratri), to prepare medicine, produce local shoes, bags, ropes and even to make a certain number of dishes.

This study of the drug trade argues that it is impossible to enforce legislation that does not take into account existing socio-economic and cultural realities.
While consuming Bhang (Charas) is not only socially acceptable during festivals like Holi and Shivaratri, allowed for mystics and sadhus and is even promoted in films,” says Thakur, “ironically its cultivation is banned.”

Legalizing the cultivation of marijuana, will not only unburden the legal system, reduce crowding in jails and will also stop stigmatizing and criminalizing charas consumers, something that is much safer than alcohol and tobacco, contests Thakur.