SECURITY FORCES WARN OFF DRUG CULTIVATION

The Interior Ministry has warned farmers in the northern Bekaa and Hermel
they face stiff penalties if caught cultivating drugs.

Leaflets were dropped over the area by an army helicopter stating that
whoever grew cannabis would face life sentences with hard labor and fines
of up to LL100 million.

They also said that mukhtars who concealed any drug cultivation in their
villages would face prison sentences and fines of up to LL2 million.

Drug cultivation was prohibited in 1992, but Bekaa farmers had threatened
to resort to growing cannabis, claiming the government did not provide them
with alternative crops.