Foreign Drug Users Find Paradise In Nepal

KATHMANDU, Dec 30 (Bernama) -- This year alone 129 foreigners have been arrested for possessing and trafficking drugs in Nepal, a clear indication that the number of tourists involved in drug smuggling is on the rise, according to the Nepalese Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).

According to Xinhua news agency in Thamel, Kathmandu's tourist hub, it is not unusual to overhear the words "ganja, hashish, mushrooms." At night, it is not unusual for drug peddlers to follow you and offer an assortment of drugs.

"Everyone knows that it's easy to find drugs in Kathmandu. I have seen people smoking marijuana day and night. Walking in Thamel I have been offered drugs several times," Zhi Hao, a Chinese tourist in his 20s, recently told Xinhua.

Drug dealers are nocturnal and usually come out under the cover of darkness. "I have a job during the day but I sell hashish at night -- during the tourist season in particular," a local drug dealer, who requested anonymity, said.

In the late 1970s, the Nepal government banned the sale of hashish and related products, but 40 years later, Nepal is still a haven for drug users.

A distinct smell of cannabis came from the rooftops of many guest houses. A French man approached asking for a kitchen but not to cook dinner but ketamine, a common horse tranquilizer which is also used as a recreational drug.

"Nepal is a drug user's paradise. Locals and foreigners are treated differently. If the police catch me using drugs I will face severe punishment but little or nothing will happen to a tourist," Anil Thapa, a Nepali drug user, told Xinhua.

Tourists talk about the drug scene in Nepal with nonchalance. " I have been offered cannabis by both Nepalese and foreigners. I don't think it's a negative thing; it helps people in socializing, " said a young girl from the Netherlands.

Many foreigners believe that if they are caught by the police, they can buy their freedom on the spot at a very small price. But most prefer to take drugs discreetly.

Insiders said a kilo of cannabis in Nepal would cost 7,000 Nepali Rupees (about US$70), which is a tenth of the price in Western countries.

Unlike Afghanistan, Nepal is not a major drug producer but cannabis grows wildly and can be found easily in the country's rural regions. Much of the cannabis sold to tourists in the streets of Kathmandu is locally produced and is famous among drug users worldwide for its natural high and unique flavor.

According to the NCB, they have seized 25 tonnes of cannabis in 2013.

In Nepal the use of cannabis is permitted and socially accepted as a religious ritual for ascetics during the Shivaratri festival. Cannabis is also used as a traditional medicine but other kinds of drugs are frowned upon by the local people.

Tourists are often associated with liberal attitude toward drugs in contrast with the conservative and traditional values of the Nepali society.

Those involved in the tourism sector such as taxi drivers, tour guides and guesthouse owners often act as bridges between foreigners and local drug dealers.

According to Niraj B. Shahi, superintendent of Police, Narcotic Control Bureau, authorities are committed to controlling drug trafficking networks in Nepal rather than the consumption and use of drugs by tourists.

"We have prosecuted tourists trafficking drugs but we prefer to focus on Nepalese. Once there will be no supply of drugs, foreigners will not be able to buy," Shahi told Xinhua.

Kathmandu is the only destination from South Asia that has made it to the TripAdvisor 2013 Travellers' Choice Awards for Destinations on Rise.

But as tourism in Nepal's capital blooms and air routes expand, there are increasing concerns that drug traffickers will establish Nepal as their transit hub in the region.

As they say, there is always a tradeoff for everything, one positive and the other negative.

-- BERNAMA

So a kilo of weed costs 700 dollars in the international market. Who is the f:(;:;ing genuis who set those prices. This is most naive and amateurish article I've read in a long time.

"In 1973, Richard Nixon and his recently formed DEA paid the new king, Birendra, 50-70 million dollars to outlaw pot--his in a Hindu country where everyone must take cannabis once a year on Lord Shiva's birthday. Hippies were deported to India. It was a sad day on Freak Street."

"Buses full of Hippies would disembark at the end of New Road and to this day this street is called Freak Street. Nepal was Hippie nirvana being that marijuana and hashish were legal and sold openly in Government licensed shops! At the time there were no opium dens in Kathmandu nor is opium grown or heroin produced in Nepal! There was no such thing as a Nepalese junkie. Cannabis was only illegal to export and Hippies caught at the airport were fined $100 USD and deported on the next flight out of Kathmandu. "

"During the 1980s and the introduction of brown sugar heroin into Nepal one of the casualties was the Crown Prince, who was rumored to having been sent to rehab in Switzerland. In 1984 the Nepalese Soccer team was detained at LAX carrying that 150 kilos of pure heroin."

"In 1986 Henry Kissinger and a group of narcotics agents come to Kathmandu for a SAARC conference. The agents bought 2 kilos of pure heroin on the back streets of Asan Tol market with traveler checks! These two kilos they threw down on the desk of Inspector General of Police D. B. Lama and threaten to cut off all aid to Nepal. The agents produced a list of all the people who were involved in the Cannabis trade who still lived in Nepal. Soon wany Westerners with private vehicles or extended Visas were rousted. Overnight the jails swelled with Westerners and Nepalese most of whom were not involved in the heroin trade. Nepalese and Westerners were tortured into confessions."

"Nepal today is 8 times poorer than in 1970."

Excerpts from THE BLACK PRINCE,http://kingofnepal.net/files/articles.html

and read this too: The DrugTrail ends in Kathmandu Part II

"Let’s take a poll on who the Nepalese prefer, the ugly war mongering Americans or the love and peace marijuana smoking Hippies who put Nepal on the map. Jai Nepal Free Nepal"

http://www.americandrugwar.com/new/pietri2.htm