Buzzby

Why Australian Marijuana Is A Big Hit In Bali
Matthew Moore | The Age | 05/26/2005

Perhaps the most compelling reason so many Australians believe Schapelle Corby is innocent is the "coals to Newcastle" argument: why would anyone smuggle marijuana to Bali when everyone knows it's so easy to get there?

While drugs might seem freely available on the streets, the foreigners who live in Bali, including those serving time in Kerobokan jail, say that buying them is a very risky business because you never know if the seller is an undercover police officer or a police informer.

For that reason, westerners in Bali are prepared to pay premium prices for marijuana if they can get it from other Westerners, as that's the best way to ensure they are not going to be trapped and arrested.

According to four sources in Bali contacted by The Age, including one former and one current drug dealer, high-quality Australian marijuana, similar in appearance to that found in Schapelle Corby's luggage, has been sold on a limited basis in Bali for years, but only to Westerners.

One European man, now serving a jail term for possessing hashish, said he knows of several Australians who have been bringing strong hydroponic marijuana into Bali.

He said it brings "really good money", getting a price around 50 per cent higher than the Nepalese hashish that is more widely available for around $A16 a gram on the streets.

He said the marijuana was stronger than hashish, which is produced from the same plant and has the same active constituents. "You just can't move, it's like (being) brain dead," he said of its effect.

An Australian who says he's lived in Bali for 15 years contacted The Age several times to say his children were frequently offered marijuana called "Aussie gold". The man, who refused to give his name, said the "hydroponic bud" smuggled from Australia sells for $A600 an ounce (about $A21 a gram) or as much as $A20,000 a kilogram.

Top quality marijuana in Australia sells for around $8000 a kilogram, although more when broken into "deals".

A Balinese drug dealer who has spent time in jail said he had smoked the Australian "skunk" many times with friends from Italy, Germany and Australia but had never bought or sold any.

He recognised the marijuana as Australian as it was made up of large flowers or buds, while the marijuana he sells from Aceh in north Sumatra or from Malang in East Java has much smaller buds and a lot of leaf mixed in.

Despite requests from Corby's lawyers, Indonesian police did not test the marijuana in her bag to find out where it was grown or its strength, and it is not certain it was grown hydroponically, a cultivation method that increases its potency. But when the bag of marijuana was displayed in the court, it was clear it was made up of buds the size of bananas, which emitted a powerful smell whenever the plastic bag was opened.

While marijuana in the 1970s had THC (active ingredient) levels of around 1 to 2 per cent, today's hydroponic marijuana often has THC levels of 15 per cent, higher than a lot of hashish.

The Balinese drug dealer, who would not be named, said that while there was a lot of marijuana for sale, "it's hard for foreigners to get access to it" because they were fearful of getting caught. "It's safer for foreigners to bring their own. It's been happening for quite some time and it's not only marijuana."

While he was aware of the importation of marijuana from Australia, he said it was more common for foreigners to bring in hashish or other drugs.

While a number of foreigners have been arrested for trafficking or possessing hashish, Bali police say the marijuana found in Corby's luggage was the first incidence in which they have found the drug being brought into Bali from another country.

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