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CNN WORLD REPORT

Farmers in Lebanon Grow Cannabis to Make Ends Meet

Aired July 29, 2001 - 14:32 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SHIHAB RATTANSI, CNN ANCHOR: Despite international efforts to eradicate cannabis production in the Middle East, many farmers are choosing to carry on planting the crop. For them, it's a matter of survival. Hashish is a popular form of hallucinogenic drug extracted from cannabis. The Middle East is one the primary sources of hashish production in the world. Mohalmel Faqih of Lebanon's Future TV went to the Bekaa Valley, where many suspected cannabis farms are flourishing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MOHALMEL FAQIH, FUTURE TV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): People have returned to drug production in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. Cannabis has made a comeback 10 years after it was totally stamped out. Farmers say it is the only way to survive in the poor and underdeveloped Bekaa Valley. And there is a lot of tension and anger over a government's decision to destroy the hashish harvest.

Unlike nearby cannabis fields, there were no death threats here for filming the drug and farmers growing it. This man resisted intimidation from locals not to allow filming his cannabis field.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I was first to cultivate hashish. What do you expect me to do after I lost my job at this age? If the cannabis gets destroyed, I will either have to die, or the people I give money to cultivate this land will die. There will be no eradication.

FAQIH: Lebanon had successfully eradicated a major hashish production center here when the civil war ended in 1990. The international community promised to help farmers find other sources of income, but it failed to deliver. Now, 60 percent of Bekaa Valley farmers live below poverty line, and living conditions continue to dip.

(on camera): Lebanon is facing a serious crisis. If cannabis fields like this will go up in flames, as the authorities have promised, the government will have to provide alternative sources of income for thousands of impoverished families in this valley.

(voice-over): The state preparing to launch a development drive that will go hand in hand with drug eradication, despite the lack of funds. Lebanon and the U.N. ended up shouldering a program to rehabilitate the Bekaa Valley in the early 1990s, but money available could barely serve a dozen out of every 100 needy farmers.

MOHAMMED FAKJANI, U.N. DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM: It's nonsense. How can you -- I mean, forbid this -- the cultivation of this crop, which is the main source of income for these poor people, and then let them wait without any alternative. And to do alternative, you need more funds. You need not to organize seminars and workshops or to publish some paper or studies. We cannot feed people with studies and with papers.

FAQIH: The reappearance of hashish field alarmed authorities. They want the crops destroyed. The rule of law and Lebanon's reputation are at stake. But thousands of farmers, like this man, want Beirut to ignore international pressure. Some powerful officials have called on donor countries to make good on previous commitments to help develop this vast region, if they want to see it drug-free.

Mohalmel Faqih, Future Television, the Bekaa Valley.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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