Open Letter from 'An Inconvenient Green'.
Afghanistan is the worlds most proficient producer of hashish, a simple and popular preparation from cannabis. Not only
does hashish production help replace opium with its myriad of contingent consequences (mostly from its prohibition),
cannabis supplements the income of some 40,000 farmers left with few choices.
It is so good at it, Afghanistan is rated as being nearly four times better at making hash in kg per hectare than its
nearest next best competitor, Morocco. [UNODC]
Not that anyone has died of good hash. (as in, unadulterated!)
Or that one of its renowned medicinal properties has shown to be better than most every ‘big pharma’ ameliorate,
especially in respect of post traumatic ’syndromes’ which the region is disturbingly afflicted.
When MP Rod Donald had an Afghan (fmr) Trade Minister in Christchurch I asked, could a “Loyal Jurga” (national meeting
of tribes) meet and resolve the required issues while UN ‘drug prohibition’ remained du jour. He flatteringly
acknowledged my insight and replied “No”.
I agree with "FrogBlog" commentator, SDC when he said “Heard of the term “double standards” and the concept of
international standards being universal and not applied selectively.” [Afghanistan has become America’s longest war]
Come on Greens.. move to fix what is broken! At least the very least ‘talk about it’.
Many closet social ecologists (Frog Readers?) are quite Green but being green is not always about ‘us’ and our
lifestyle, or being biodegradable… we have values that define us and drive our voting decisions. And hypocrisy isn’t one
of them.
The War On Drugs [WOD] is a crock of shite… to fail to recognise and action the legislative implications of our blind
adherence to the Single Convention on Narcotics is to condemn Afghanistan to status-quo.
No matter how hard we recycle, save whales, or demand clean water, unwinnable wars will always be a carbon intensive
waste of energy.
Some even believe that the global carbon question cannot be resolved unless the world demilitarises and defuses the
intensity of corruption so readily masked by and aided by a global war on some plants. (The US alone has spent more than
$1.5 Trillion doing exactly that… trying its best to ‘just say no’ )
With a Law Commission 'all drug policy' review a work in progress but the 'conventions' systemic failings being held to
be beyond reproach, here’s hoping the much lauded by commentators resurgent interest by 'Youth' in the Greens. The old
guard conservatively said its not 'an electable issue', however the ‘new guard’ while silent to date, may yet serve to
restoratively resolve this vexing issue.
Blair Anderson ‹(•¿•)›