LebGeeks

jamLeb

Member

Is the Lebanese Gorvernment promoting drug use ???

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# DISCLAIMER: This article reflects the personal opinion of its author and can be under no circumstances be explained as an accusation of the Lebanese Government.  #
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PS: Just to be clear: by "Government" I am not implying one political party or another I am talking about the government as whole so please don't misunderstand me.

Have anyone noticed the availability of drugs in Lebanon this year???
Ok. Drugs have always been accessible on the Lebanese territory; but this year, all kinds of drugs (be it weed, coke, XTC or others) are very accessible everywhere, and are being consumed by an increasing number of young people especially in universities and night life communities...
The high availability of drugs is increasing at a rate never witnessed before in Lebanon.

Security measures and armed forces dispersion on the Lebanese territory have highly increased over the three past years due to the sad circumstances, but at the same time, the Lebanese Army AND the Internal Security Forces are being indulgent regarding drugs on the roads and while inspecting cars.

Why would the voluntarily Lebanese Government do so?

1) Drugs grown in Lebanon are reputed for their high quality especially when talking about Cannabis. These illegally grown drugs used to be illegally exported to the Arab gulf countries, to Europe, and North America after passing the Lebanese-Syrian borders by land. Now because of the delicate political situation between Syria and Lebanon after the last political events, it is getting harder to export drugs through the borders. So the harvest is stuck on the Lebanese territory. In order to avoid a financial catastrophe for families in the Bekaa and the villages growing this kind of plants, the Lebanese government facilitates drugs' internal exchange and transportation by not enforcing the laws.

2) In the last two years, Lebanese people have shown a strong will to be part of the political decisions instead of being victims. Many political parties have openly expressed their opinion in several ways of which is manifestations and economic freezing of the country. Both major Lebanese alliances (talking about 8 and 14 march) stood up for their causes and beliefs. And the major players on the scene were from the young generation.
What if the government IS promoting drug use to defuse the stress in the Lebanese youth and avoid economical crises like those caused by 8 march 14 march and other major manifestations???

Maybe I am exaggerating but don't forget that we're talking about a government that used to take into custody innocent people for the only crime that they are wearing black or because they are males growing their hair. For those of you who don't remember, I am talking about the anti-Satanic campaign that took place about four years ago.
Would such government become all of a sudden indulgent regarding drug dealing and drug use? Or is there political dimensions behind this behavior?

Please share your thought

WizaRd

Member

Re: Is the Lebanese Gorvernment promoting drug use ???

The thing with Lebanon is, and in short... you can't please everyone.

If they enforce the law and ban everything that is illegal bet2oum le2yemeh because you have a lot of families generating income from such resources.

If they let things play out without doing anything kamen bet2oum le2yemeh.

Do not forget that those who are producing the drugs are politically backed. If not directly, bikouno ma7soubin 3a 7ada.

samer

Admin

Re: Is the Lebanese Gorvernment promoting drug use ???

Same goes for the booming movie/software piracy industry in Lebanon. Distributors are either politically backed or are too powerful to reach (within their province).

jamLeb

Member

Re: Is the Lebanese Gorvernment promoting drug use ???

FlyingWizzard: I am not talking about drug production. Production have always been the same. I am talking about distribution and consumption WITHIN the Lebanese territory

Samer: Don't you think there's a slight difference between the Government not enforcing COPYRIGHT laws. And the government letting drugs circulate in and out major cities especially beirut? Don't you think promoting drug use among young people for political reasons is slightly more dangerous than you and me watching non-DRMed DVDs?

battikh

Member

Re: Is the Lebanese Gorvernment promoting drug use ???

if the production was always the same, then nothing change among the government, if it was being produced by the same quantities, and still today, then it was and it still tolerated, knowing that the government buys satellite images to identify what is being planted, so the knew and still know, never did a thing about it, and still don't. as i see it, it's still the same, to stop it you have to stop the production, not the circulation.

samer

Admin

Re: Is the Lebanese Gorvernment promoting drug use ???

Samer: Don't you think there's a slight difference between the Government not enforcing COPYRIGHT laws. And the government letting drugs circulate in and out major cities especially beirut? Don't you think promoting drug use among young people for political reasons is slightly more dangerous than you and me watching non-DRMed DVDs?

I did not say the the former is as serious as the latter.

I think we should rely on enlightenment so as to prevent (or at least limit) drug use. I remember seeing a whole "7amlé" on LBC against drug use especially for the youth (this summer). Very interesting IMO.

Ultimately, I think this strategy would be easier to go by rather than limiting the availability of the drugs, since media is easily accessible and its reach is wide, plus, limited political fuss would get in the way.

samer

Admin

Re: Is the Lebanese Gorvernment promoting drug use ???

PS: welcome to the forums jamLeb :) why don't you introduce yourself?

battikh

Member

Re: Is the Lebanese Gorvernment promoting drug use ???

personally i think that regular adds against drugs are not very effective. people who use drugs know the side effects, it's not an add that will make them stop. just look at regular cigarettes usage, everyone knows the side effects it does, do smokers care? people who use drugs or want to try it wont stop because of an add on TV. and for overdoses and showing to people what happened with other people, well, unfortunately, humans by nature tend to always think that bad things only happen to others. car accidents, cancer, death, ... people usually think that it only happens to others and never to yourself (till it happens which is too late). the only effective way to fight it is basically by making it unavailable (therefore by stopping it's production and not just its local distribution), or by controlling it (price, availability, to who it is sold, where and which quantities, ...) which would require to legalize it.
i personally think that the best way for the government to control it is by legalizing it, otherwise it's just a hide and seek game between police and smugglers and the government would not have a real control on it.

Last edited by battikh (December 23 2007)

jamLeb

Member

Re: Is the Lebanese Gorvernment promoting drug use ???

battikh: First of all congrats. You just posted the first relevant post in this topic. (am sorry but even YOUR first post was not very relevant )
2) I assume that when you are talking about legalizing drugs you're basically talking about cannabis, which makes sense -at least for some people-. But we're not talking only about cannabis here, we're talking about hard drugs which distribution and consumption is a threat to  a whole generation.
The thing is that I personally don't give a damn about drugs production as long as it's being exported: it even presents a good income to the country. Even better, the harvest could be invested in by the pharmaceutical industry. If the government is being indulgent regarding drug trade and use in Lebanon BECAUSE the drugs can't cross the borders, that mean that the government is risking a whole generation only to avoid a financial crisis in the drug-producing villages; so the government is unable to find a substitute to support these families (like for example buying their product for medicinal investment)

So the question remains: Is the government implicitly using the drug market to cover its political mess and/or to find a market for a production that is stuck on the territory and can't be exported, or is the drug availability increase and government indifference just a coincidence and jamLeb is overreacting?

WizaRd

Member

Re: Is the Lebanese Gorvernment promoting drug use ???

"What if the government IS promoting drug use to defuse the stress in the Lebanese youth and avoid economical crises like those caused by 8 march 14 march and other major manifestations???"

You think ?

Samer and watermelon presented a good point which is social awareness. Even if - suppose - the government is putting drugs on your doorstep free of charge, if you are sane, you know you will never touch it.

mir

Member

Re: Is the Lebanese Gorvernment promoting drug use ???

sad thing to read !
it is our fault in the end cuz we are ok having zou3ama protecting those ppl... and having zou3ama not saying and pointing things about the other zo3ama

The thing is that I personally don't give a damn about drugs production as long as it's being exported: it even presents a good income to the country

:o

rebel0

Member

Re: Is the Lebanese Gorvernment promoting drug use ???

Interesting post, well you are very right, drugs this year was so high in availablity, i was talking to one of the security guards in the company i was working with, and he told me this year he's gonna marry because this year he had a nice income "12000"$ of what he planted "Hashish", he said all his villagef planted it this year, so why this year i mean 2007, anyways, a whole generation is nothing in the eyes of politicians as long as their chairs wont move, its about time that u understand this, anyways i believe ppl who got into drugs are people that deserve an overdose , its harsh but its right, why the hell will they take it though they know its side effects, and i assure u they know its side effects and are ready to argue with u about 10 hours to let u understand its very useful and have control over it,, damn im speaking as an ex drug inhaler and taker, and as a victim of trying to advice my ex to stop the ........ medicines and drug she's taking. she needs to have an overdoes to get to know thhat drugs are bad ,