Cannabis Chronicles

In an earlier posting here at the Cannabis Chronicles called Roundup Woes, we detailed a bit of the economic problem agrochemicals giant Monsanto is having with the production of it’s leading herbicide. While further researching Fusarium fungus for our recent series of journal entries called Fusarium Attack, we discovered another significant problem with the [...]

As we mentioned in our last journal entry, as a scientist trained specifically in the field of fungus species like Fusarium, Jeremy Bigwood is uniquely qualified to speak against the ill considered development and use of biological herbicides in the War on Drugs. Here’s an article he penned for In These Times just two [...]

The earlier articles in our series on the use of Fusarium as a bio-herbicide in the drug war focused on the debate as it happened circa 1999-2002. This entry helps to bring the story more up to date, it comes from a website called the Narco News Bulletin which we discovered while researching “Plan [...]

The following take on the escalation of the drug war through the use of biological herbicides comes from CounterPunch, a bi-weekly muckraking newsletter with a radical attitude who advertises that: “Nothing makes us happier than when CounterPunch readers write in to say how useful they’ve found our newsletter in their battles against the war machine, [...]

The Cannabis Chronicles ongoing archive of stories documenting the history of efforts to use Fusarium as a bio-herbicide weapon in the drug war now continues with another entry that originated in the New York Times . . .

Drug War Awaits Attack of Killer Fungus
By JIM ROBBINS

July 18, 2000
Dr. David C. Sands holds out a [...]

As was detailed in the previous entry here at the Cannabis Chronicles, a movement was started in the late 1990’s to use Fusarium fungus as a bio-herbicide to exterminate both Cannabis and Coca. Our archival coverage continues with another article from 1999, this one from a magazine called the New Scientist.

Operation Eradicate
* 11 September [...]

This journal entry begins a series we are calling “Fusarium Attack”, which will detail some of the history behind wrong headed efforts to employ the Fusarium fungus as a bio-control agent in the war on drugs.
The first article in this series that we’ll add to the Cannabis Chronicles archive is from the New York Times [...]

We are cleaning up the old picture files at the bird’s nest, as a part of a long term project to better organize our archives.
Here’s a pic that demonstrates the wonderful “canopy” of lil LUI plants found in the bird’s nest circa 2003-2004 when we were originally doing our LUI grow along at Cannabis World. [...]

“The Bible described Lebanon as “the land of milk and honey” because of its rich farmland, and in Roman times, Bekaa Valley was known as ‘the breadbasket of the Empire’.”1
According to Eye on Lebanon, “Farming remains a way of life . . . agricultural products still generate 12% of the country’s GDP. Bekaa valley is [...]

As we mentioned previously, there have been a number of prior programs attempting to offer alternatives to hashish production for farmers in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. The following New York Times article details an attempt earlier this decade to bring dairy farming to that region.

Cattlemen In Lebanon Miss Lucre Of Hashish
By NEIL MACFARQUHAR
April [...]

Continuing our look back at the most recent historical spike in the production of Lebanese hashish, we’ll continue with another addition to the archive of articles from 2001. . .

Lebanon: Hashish Grows Again In The Fields Of Lebanon

Why Farmers In Hermel Have More Faith In ‘Gold’ Than Government

Sun, 01 Jul 2001
by Robert Fisk

originally [...]

Since we’ve been giving a bit of attention to “Cannabis/Hashish in Lebanon” here at the Cannabis Chronicle of late, it seems only natural to put last year’s hash harvest into a bit better perspective. With that in mind, it should be obvious to those who know us that we’d like to share a bit [...]

Whether we like it or not, it seems that everything in life is political. Therefore, it’s no great surprise that Lebanese hashish production in the Bekaa Valley would be a hot-potato of a political issue, not only in Lebanon, but her neighboring countries as well.
Considering the fact that hashish profits potentially offer a funding [...]

As we continue to cover the resurgence of Hashish making in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, it’s looking like time to bring the economics of prohibition to the forefront. According to the Reuters’ article we’re reproducing to accompany this journal entry, a cannabis field of 1,000 square metres is worth $1,000 to its owner at harvest, [...]