Hashishi

Cannabis farm kit will help grow African crops
6/24/07 | The Observer | by Paul Kelbie

Almost a quarter of a million pounds' worth of equipment seized by Strathclyde police during raids on illegal cannabis farms is to be sent to Africa to help grow vegetables.

Lights, ballasts, compost and extractor fans used by drug dealers to cultivate the illicit crops were recovered by detectives during Operation League, a major crackdown by Strathclyde police on cannabis growers. Now the equipment is to be put to a more constructive use after being donated to an aid organisation, which will hand them out to farmers in central Africa. A large number of lights and fans will also be distributed to hospitals for Aids patients.

It is the first time the proceeds of crime have been used this way but it is unlikely to be the last, say officials.

[Of course, if there weren't such draconian restrictions on hemp production and the respondent bureaucracy and demand for specific cultivars who knows how the booming African hemp trade would benefit the continent? Much more than some rusty equipment hauled out of the basement of a County Constabulary in England, I'll wager. -Hash]