CANNABIS IS THE NEW DRUG OF CHOICE FOR AFGHANISTAN'S FORMER OPIUM POPPY FARMS

Where opium poppies used to colour the plains of northern
Afghanistan, towering cannabis plants now sway in the wind, filling
the air with their pungent odour.

Farmers in Balkh province were banned from cultivating opium last
year and have switched to another cash crop, a rich source of income
that is still tolerated by the authorities.

Balkh's burgeoning hashish industry does not pay farmers quite as
much as the heroin factories used to for good-quality opium. But the
rich black cannabis resin produced around the northern city of
Mazar-i-Sharif still pays about four times the price of cotton or
wheat. It is highly prized by Afghan users and is exported in large
quantities to Pakistan and Europe.

Growing cannabis is nothing new for Afghan farmers, but the opium
clampdown has transformed a minor cash crop into big business. The
2007 annual report of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime estimated a 40
per cent rise in Afghanistan's cannabis production this year from
50,000 hectares (123,550 acres) last year to 70,000 hectares this year.

The switch from opium to cannabis is the latest embarrassment to
Western attempts at eradication. It also illustrates the desperation
of poor farmers.

Western officials are deeply concerned that the booming drugs trade
is funding the insurgency against Nato troops and driving corruption
that undermines the Government in Kabul.

The UN report has found that Afghanistan now produces 93 per cent of
the world's opium, mostly in the southern provinces. It highlighted
poppy eradication in Balkh as a rare bright spot. But the gloss was
tarnished by Balkh's cannabis problem.

This week, as gusts of snow blew in from the north, farmers were
busily harvesting their plants in the flat, wintery landscape around
Mazar-i-Sharif near the border with Uzbekistan.

Roadside stores keep hashish hidden among the onions and biscuits,
producing thin sticks or sheets for users who drive out from
Mazar-i-Sharif. "It is the best quality in Afghanistan," one
shopkeeper said with a lazy smile. "I don't keep opium any more
because it is too much trouble. But hashish is good business."

Unlike opium, cannabis is smoked by some farmers without serious
social consequences. "The only thing is there seem to be more
layabouts now that we grow so much cannabis." one said.

Muhammad Qol, 44, said that nearly three quarters of his income came
from cannabis. He said: "We don't smoke it, and we know it is a sin
and against Islam. But my family needs the money and the Government
stopped us from growing opium, so what can we do? We are saving up
for a Toyota Corolla. Everyone else has a car these days. Why
shouldn't poor farmers like us have one?"

Some Western officials try to look on the bright side. One said: "At
least they've gone from producing hard drugs to soft drugs. It's
progress, sort of."