Protesters confront Lebanon's marijuana crop purge

[August 04, 2012]  BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) -- Lebanon's state news agency says protesters have set up roadblocks of stones and burning tires in attempts to block security forces on missions to destroy marijuana fields in the Bekaa Valley.

The confrontation is part of rising tensions between the government and farmers seeking compensation for the loss of illegal marijuana crops.

The report by the National News Agency says the Saturday protest was joined by mayors from villages in the Yammouneh area outside Baalbek, about 50 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Beirut.

Bekaa has been a traditional center for marijuana resin for hashish and poppies for opium. Drug cultivation was eradicated under a U.N. program in the early 1990s but has returned as a lucrative alternative to the valley's orchards and olive groves.

[Associated Press]

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