Canadian's fight in Afghan marijuana fields

[Colin Parkinson]

Or how about we assist the Afghan government in organizing the planting and cultivating of both the opium crops and the maryjane fields with their farmers. One huge Afghan government enterprise whereby the farmers are paid for their crops which are then distributed internationally by approved organizations for use as "medicinal marijuana" where legal, and the same occurs for the opium crops, whereby the opiate derrivitaves are removed, processed and distributed to the world of medicine.

This would assist in ending, or at least easing, the current lack of affordable pain killing medications in numerous disadvantaged countries, and provide a reliable, legal and sustainable source of pain medication for the world. Imagine the boost to the Afghan economy and it's citizens if this were implemented properly. Afghanistan becomes the world's leading developer, producer and exporter of medicinal m.j. and opiate pain medication in the world. A steady and reliable source of income for it's farmers will go a long way towards reducing their willingness to play patty-cake with the Taliban by bringing arms etc over the border for use against those who wish to assist them in bettering their economic state and standard of living.

After all, what's a farmer to do if you destroy his crop....and he's got a wife and 5 or 6 kids to feed? If the Taliban are willing to pay him to smuggle arms or provide them with intelligence against us instead....maybe it's time we took away the incentive for them to negotiate with the Taliban. After all that farmer is just trying to get by and help his family to survive too on a daily basis.

I have proposed elsewhere that the Government says you will sell the poppies to us and we will pay a fair market price, anyone that does not comply has their crops seized and destroyed. After the first successful season you require the farmers to plant a percentage of food crops, but make up the difference, you then increase the percentage of food crops and as government becomes more stable, they begin to reduce the top up. Once you have control of the countryside you set the schedule for this to happen, the west would have to fund this, but better pay some there and less combating the drugs here. Keeps the farmers on side and brings the problem under some control, gives the Afghans time to organized and removes the cash flow from the Taliban/AQ/warlords, who will be forces to extort it from the farmers, which then makes the farmers less likely to support them. Also the slow increase in food crops allows the infrastructure to grow to transport, store and sell food.

 

[armyvern]

I have proposed elsewhere that the Government says you will sell the poppies to us and we will pay a fair market price, anyone that does not comply has their crops seized and destroyed. After the first successful season you require the farmers to plant a percentage of food crops, but make up the difference, you then increase the percentage of food crops and as government becomes more stable, they begin to reduce the top up. Once you have control of the countryside you set the schedule for this to happen, the west would have to fund this, but better pay some there and less combating the drugs here. Keeps the farmers on side and brings the problem under some control, gives the Afghans time to organized and removes the cash flow from the Taliban/AQ/warlords, who will be forces to extort it from the farmers, which then makes the farmers less likely to support them. Also the slow increase in food crops allows the infrastructure to grow to transport, store and sell food.

And I have pointed out that there are vast shortages of legal, sustainable pain reducing medications available in the world. After all from opium comes Morphine, Opium Tincture Oral liquid (U.S. and Canada), Paregoric Oral liquid (U.S. and Canada) amongst some others. Your solution invloves burning and destroying crops for non-compliance...a sure fire way to win hearts and minds. Actually all that will do is force the farmer of the destroyed crops to cavort with the Taliban by importing arms, providing int etc as a means to get money to feed his family and to survive.

Better to make legal morphine with it and for their economy to benefit from that than to try to outbid the Taliban who will use the opium to produce illegal heroin. If this is done on a mass basis, while our troops are there provide protection from Taliban and druglord activity regarding the crops, and to provide support to the Afghan govnt and it's citizens in this undertaking. the rest of the economic spin-offs for them will follow. IE proper irrigation systems to the rest of their vast lands which are currently incapable of producing food crops etc which would vastly increase their farmable lands, their economy, standard of living and dignity.

After all, we have a current world situation where our elderly are dying without dignity in pain, where it is expected that Africans with AIDS will die horribly painful deaths with no solace from the pain, where third world countries attempt to the best of their abilities to perform life saving operations on persons using no pain suppressants whatsoever. There is nothing ethiclly or morally wrong with with producing legal pain medications from Afghanistans poppy fields and marijuana plantations.  It's strict control and implementation will benefit both the citizens of Afghanistan and allow them to modernize their infrastructure, lives and economy while simultaneously easing serious concerns in underdeveloped nations regarding the excruiatingly high cost of pain medications currently available from all those pharmeceutical companies. In short it will allow Afghanistan to support itself in the long term (because pain is not going away any time soon) and has the added benefit of allowing them to contribute on the global scale that national product they already have to other nations in just as desperate of circumstances that Afghanistan now finds itself in.

 

[Jacqueline]

Then ask them what is the difference between being drunk (artificially happy, sometimes acting stupid, definitely not acting virtuous) and being high on dope (artificially happy, sometimes acting stupid, definitely not acting virtuous)

Since being high on outdoor pot makes a person slightly paranoid(not artificially happy), that person is more likely to act in accordance with their ethical principles, and give alot more thought to how they act. This is just a reason a person might give when asked the above question.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Armyvern, no you are not reading what I wrote, the government buys the majority of the crop, they can use it manufacture pharmaceuticals with, which has the added bonus of building a long term industry for both domestic needs and exported, earning hard currency. They will only destroy and burn the crops of those who do not agree to sell to the government. This gives them incentives to comply and I am sure if the government lives up to the agreement, compliance will not be a problem.

 

[sm0ke]

Thanks for the insight guys...definitely gives a better perspective of how the farmers see it, and how easily they can be influenced and pressured by either side.

Vern - I think you're onto something.  If the Afghan government were somehow able to harness and export that stuff legitimately, it could be huge economically.  Wonder if it's something they're looking at.

II bet those guys that used it for cam regret using it. the stuff smells like *** and it lingers like crazy

hehe it'll drive the customs dogs nuts   ;D
Edits: typos

 

[TCBF]

"They could possibly grow stock for bio fuels of the near future."

- Won't the Trans Afghan Pipeline make that a wasted effort?

;D

- Seriously though, biofuels are uneconomical unless subsidized by the guvmint.  You actually use more fuel producing the bio than you harvest from the bio.

Tom

 

[childs56]

Bio fuel is pretty cheap to produce to the tune of 50 to 60 cents a liter, this is industrial grade. The tax implications and long road travel due to very few companys making it is what has driven up the cost so high. It is still a very specialized market right now.

It is another idea if they can grow crops that well. Even if they sold the fuel to the Asian market they and us would be farther ahead.
Bio fuel used in Diesels are just as good as #2 fuel. May actually be better for the new regulations that are comming into effect next year in North America.

As for the cost of producing it. 20 years ago the Tar sands were laughed at for the cost limitations of producing a barrel of oil $80 or so everyone said the extracting energy consumed far out weighed the benift of the barrel of oil, now a days they do the same barrel for under$30 a barrel. 

The same can be said for Bio fuels a couple years ago it was pricey up wards of $1 or more a liter to just produce. Now it is around the 50 cent mark.

 

[TCBF]

It might pay in a country with a high tech agro and transportation sector - but not in a third world country.

 

[zipperhead_cop]

Part of the problem is alot of the farmers have been pre paid for the crops, some times several crops in advance so the farmer is obligated to provide the paid for crops to the kind of people he doesn't really want to disapoint, this was explained to me by one of our terps how use to work as a harvester for the opium.

I see.  Do you think the farmers could keep it together if they went with taking the money from us, then letting the crop get destroyed, then when the drug lord guys came around, cry about "friggin' Canadians and their damn mine plows".  Get the farmers to play both sides of the coin.  Then they could go on about what dicks we are for forcing them to grow soy beans or whatever.  Make us the bad guys (since the drug lords want us dead anyway. That is a set of hearts and minds that we don't need to worry about beyond putting them on display in the dirt) and maybe they would catch a break. 
Maybe the supervision end of that task would be too massive to be feasable?   ??? How long do poppies take to grow and mature?

From what I saw the weed seemed to be pretty much for local use, at least in the areas I was in.

Got it.  So the crops to  concentrate would be the poppies?

 

[PPCLI MCpl]

About two weeks ago, one of our section commanders went to see the travel folks to sort out his HLTA.  He was surprised to see his location in theatre still described as Camp Nathan Smith.  He assured her that A Coy’s actually location was the HODHIMF.

When she asked what the HODHIMF was, he replied, “Hollowed out dirt hole in marijuana field.”

Which leads me to a project that the LAV Captain and I have been working on.  We noticed that the dope fields are normally co-located with cornfields.  It didn’t take a huge stretch of the imagination to discover the worlds’ latest and greatest treat.

If our cross-pollination experiment is a success, families the world over will soon be sitting down to enjoy the addictive taste of Cornibus. 

 

[armyvern]

If our cross-pollination experiment is a success, families the world over will soon be sitting down to enjoy the addictive taste of Cornibus. 

Sounds promising for retirement!! Kill the munchies too all in one stroke!!

On another note, welcome back PPCLI Sgt, enjoy your time at home during your leave.

 

[patrick666]

If our cross-pollination experiment is a success, families the world over will soon be sitting down to enjoy the addictive taste of Cornibus. 

:rofl:

 

[sdimock]

Maybe we should try and convert the poppy fields to cannabis, then use the fiber to make hemp cloth/rope and the leaf to biofuel.

Get them on a lesser of two evils path.

Since Afghan rugs are world famous (and expensive) maybe the cloth could take off too.

I recall reading an article posted about the use of the poppies for legitimate drugs production and the current regulatory bodies (producers) didn't like it (go figure). If I recall correctly, at the time they claimed lots of paper tigers as excuses, quality control etc. nothing that couldn't be worked out if they were motivated.
(I'll try and find a link).

I thought at the time they were just protecting their own intrests.

I like the Cornibus idea  :blotto:

 

[Sig_Des]

If our cross-pollination experiment is a success, families the world over will soon be sitting down to enjoy the addictive taste of Cornibus. 

Should beat the hell out of Tommaco

 

[sdimock]

I couldn't quickly find a link to the article I previously read, but here is one to a group that is currently working on a licensing option.

My putting this link here does not mean I endorse this group, I am only putting it up for information.

I don't want to spend my entire Saturday doing research on the internet, that's for the work week.

http://www.senliscouncil.net/modules/Opium_licensing/modules/publications/008_publication

 

[Pea]

If our cross-pollination experiment is a success, families the world over will soon be sitting down to enjoy the addictive taste of Cornibus. 

:rofl: Way too funny!

And yes, Welcome Home!

 

[zipperhead_cop]

If our cross-pollination experiment is a success, families the world over will soon be sitting down to enjoy the addictive taste of Cornibus. 

Great idea!  Then you could take the product, dry it out and put it in microwavable pouches with a bit of butter.  Two minutes on HIGH (unintended pun, but a bonus non the less) and voila!  Pot Corn. 

 

[PPCLI MCpl]

Great idea!  Then you could take the product, dry it out and put it in microwavable pouches with a bit of butter.  Two minutes on HIGH (unintended pun, but a bonus non the less) and voila!  Pot Corn. 

Pot corn...I love it.  I'll have to relay that back to my development partner.

On another less serious note, I believe that fighting in these conditions has led to the sighting of a ferocious beast that inhabits the stagnant waters of the Argendab river.  Those of you from B.C. would most likely recognize the dreaded Argopogo.

Wow.  Am I ever glad to be home.....

 

[Teflon]

Zipperhead;

I see.  Do you think the farmers could keep it together if they went with taking the money from us, then letting the crop get destroyed, then when the drug lord guys came around, cry about "friggin' Canadians and their damn mine plows".  Get the farmers to play both sides of the coin.  Then they could go on about what dicks we are for forcing them to grow soy beans or whatever.  Make us the bad guys (since the drug lords want us dead anyway. That is a set of hearts and minds that we don't need to worry about beyond putting them on display in the dirt) and maybe they would catch a break.

I really don't think the fellows who have payed them for the crops are the type to except excuses,... no ooh no, your kidding,... oh well damn Canadians,... they arn't that understanding from what I gathered.

 

[FormerHorseGuard]

any one heard of the chemical called ROUND UP , just spray it on the fields, give them round up ready corn and beans to grow. any other plant life dies , the corn and beans are a good cash crop and lots of legal markets for it.

i did laugh when i was first reading the story.
I worked at a cement plant near London for a few months on a project and the OPP and Mounties came in one night and we all had to leave the kiln area as they unloaded a few truck loads of weed into the gas fed kiln to burn up. all i saw was well armed police officers guarding the area and the boss opening the door and leaving as they fed the plants to the fire. lots of nice hardware issued to the guards, nice MP5s and other bang  sticks