HOLY HASH

Bakaa Valley Youth displaying recent crop of Cannabis

1982 was a defining year in the world of Hash distribution and  hidden Hookah Hideouts in the Southern territory of Lebanon as well as the Northern regions of Israel. An Israeli invasion intent on rooting out the PLO and rocket launching cells that took the country hostage until the year 2000 became an open highway for heavy hash importation facilitated by the Hezbollah and local mafia related tribes in the area.  With a hole blown in Israeli defenses and Lebanese militants occupied with IDF forces, restrictions severely dropped off in regards to limitations inflicted on the sale and movement of Lebanese hashish. Since that time the traffic has continued  and when the IDF withdrew in 2005, big business hash dealers blanketed both sides of the security zone.

Well known for its massive Hash production, the Bakaa Valley along the Syrian border is considered one of the world’s top producers of high quality marijuana and hashish cultivation providing more than 90% of the Middle East’s supply of hash.  The monetary return for those that farm the product is unequivocal to any other growth their farms have ever produced. The dawn of hashish made farmers in the Valley rich beyond their wildest dreams.  Drug Lords from all over the world have ventured to the “Land of Milk and Honey” to be wined and dined by master growers looking to implement consistent high quantity sales to their comrades abroad.  When government troops from Syrian brigades began to crack down on the production in 2006, farmers and  distributors lost everything and saw no return on the promise their hash crops would be subsidized by the government in return for ceasing production. 

Donna Rosenthal ventures into the Bakaa Valley in her book The Israelis with a similar take on the movement of the hash into Israeli territories.  Her brief interview with Yoav Ben Dov, a youthful Israeli writer, confirms how mandatory the influx is these days; “Israel’s cannabis lobby is big.” (p.382) Cannabis use and promotional marketing is now big business heavily supported by the Hezbollah who generally patrol and control the economics involved with hash products leaving Southern Lebanon.  With heavy profits at stake and the risk of losing land to alternative farming,  it is no longer a valid ideal to hash farmers in the Valley. Supply and demand  has made it much harder to follow alternate avenues. Rosenthal exposes the high profit margin along with massive logistic requirements entailing a ton of networking to get the hash to market.

In the TIME article by Nicholaus Blanford, the backlash  to the failure of the UN-Lebanese hash /poppy alternative programs turned many hash farmers into rebellious militants hell-bent on growing what they feel makes them a legitimate profit. Blanford’s focus revolves around the farmer and the risks he faces by getting out of the pot business. Getting back into it makes more sense for those farmers trying to feed their families. The result has elevated these farmers to a more militant level. Securing the Bakaa Valley’s illustrious fields of joy in order to maintain the continual flow and production allows for them to survive monetarily as well. Blanford’s analysis is spot on delivering direct reporting from the fields from farmers like Ahmad: ““We are tired of being hungry. We view the government as an enemy and from now on we are going to grow hashish and we don’t care what the government says or tries to do.”” Although Lebanese police have continually frowned on this ideal, generally, most hashish farmers don’t even consider its cultivation a crime.     

Now, in order to protect investment, farmers hire militias that patrol their crops twenty four hours a day with rotating units trolling for trespassers.  Once covered corner to corner, the Valley’s floor was nothing more than hashish and poppy plant. Harvested at staggered times of the year, farmers mastered the art of  potency. For years, pot and poppy flourished like wild flowers as far as the eye could see. Now the restrictions have made what little is left extremely valuable property. This has made fewer farmers richer but it has also made them more prestigious and protective. Profits were so high for some it afforded them the ability to give expensive offerings as gifts such as cars and huge sums of cash.  Enticing foreign drug lords is critical to moving product overseas and furthering reputation.

With the potency and value going through the roof, hash provides more than just a high for people living in the Israeli Lebanese sector. It’s more than an addiction; it’s a career that many in the city completely overlook.  Growing and harvesting hash and poppy plants is hard work. Tasks like cutting, trimming, preparation, and transportation to market involve back breaking labor that many simply refuse. For those surviving the task, a profit is expected. In their eyes, they are providing society an escape. For those not addicted, that’s exactly what it is. The trafficking king-pins battle each other for territorial distribution, which is generally the only violence the drug generates. 

The Bakaa Valley is still the number one hash producer and distributor in Lebanon, Syria and Israel to this day. There is no other region even close.  The mass production has kept the cost low and made it extremely accessible. With so little law involved to curtail the laundering of its profits the incentive far outweighs the deterrent.  More Info.