Marijuana leads the kick

The Royal Bhutan Police made a unique catch in 1989. For the first time in the country, they arrested a man for abusing marijuana.
That was just the beginning, though; the first case the police registered under drug abuse.
Twenty years down the line, marijuana tops the list of substance abused. According to the Narcotic Drug Law Enforcement Unit (NDLEU) records, 566 marijuana abusers were caught in the past eight years alone.
From 11 in 2001, abusers caught sharply rose to 46 in 2003. By 2007 the number spiked to 120. It doubled in 2008, at 240.
A NDLEU official said marijuana abuse topped the list of substance abuse in Bhutan because of its easy availability. Marijuana grows in abundance in most parts of Bhutan.
“The most common substances abused in the country, in order, are marijuana, solvents, and pharmaceutical drugs,” said Major Dorjee Khandu of NDLEU in an interview with BT last week. “Marijuana abuse is the highest.”
Officials say many rural communities supply hash to cities like Thimphu, Phuentsholing, and Paro. Thimphu is their biggest market.
Starting 2007 scores of people from all over the country have been arrested for producing hash. The police arrested people from Chubu Tsachu, Thinleygang in Punakha; Dungdug Naysa, Hebesa in Wangduephodrang; Dalukha, Bjemena, Dawakha, Kabesa in Thimphu; Drametse in Mongar; and Jomotsangkha in Samdrup Jongkhar.
Following a BT investigation last month, the police arrested 13 people, mostly farmers, from Bae-Langdra in Wangduephodrang.
People say the law is a bit lenient on marijuana and other drug-related crimes. A NDLEU official said the fear of legal consequences is less as the law is very lenient on the dealers as well as the abusers.
And many say the situation will go out of control if the law is not strengthened.
“It is time the government takes up marijuana-related cases on a more serious note, because even innocent farmers are getting into hash business,” said Khandu Tshering, a Thimphu civil servant.
People agree marijuana will continue to be a social menace as long as it grows in the wild. They say people must be taught to produce hemp from marijuana plants and not hash.
“Arresting farmers is not the solution,” said another civil servant. “People must be educated and given better farming options.”
Marijuana trading across the border is also on the rise, say police. Sources say Bhutanese hash has a good market in places like Jaigaon, Guahati, Shillong, Siliguri, Kalimpong, and Darjeeling. The reputation of Bhutanese hash has also been bizarrely mentioned in a book.
Taxi drivers are to be blamed again. Sources say Phuentsholing cabbies are the ones who ferry Bhutanese hash to Siliguri.
BT learnt that Samdrup Jongkhar is the main source for the Assam supply. The Khaling and Kanglung hash are mostly abused by students in Sherubtse College.
“In the peak season you can see Sherubtse students and the high school kids extracting hash from marijuana resin almost everywhere,” said a Sherubtse student.
As of 2008, the police seized almost 109 kilograms of hash.