Earlier this year, we published an article speculating where some of the world’s best cannabis is cultivated. Many locales were mentioned; some places included Humbolt County, the Netherlands, and the Hindu Kush mountain range of Afghanistan. The latter is the topic today; There is a strong chance that the Taliban administration of Afghanistan will begin cultivating cannabis for medicinal purposes. This could also be great for the Afghanistan economy.
Last week, the Taliban administration operating in Afghanistan declared that it had engaged with a company known as Cpharm to cultivate and manufacture cannabis goods. However, an Australian company operating under that entity name denied it is associated with the Taliban’s plan following being quoted in media reports out of Sydney. The Taliban administration later elucidated that they’re working with a German company under the aforementioned entity name.
Social media blurbs from the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs stated that a cannabis-friendly company known as Cpharm consented to bestow an investment meriting upwards of $400 million to establish a cannabis production facility in the country.
The plan will be formally started shortly and a plethora of people will receive employment opportunities, the ministry stated via Twitter.
However, following provincial media companies announced that the Australian cannabis business Cpharm was included, that firm later stated it had no idea what the Taliban administration was referring to whatsoever.
‘We have become conscious overnight of various media blogs and blurbs suggesting that Cpharm of Australia has been in talks regarding a contract with the Taliban administration of Afghanistan to be included in the production of cannabis in a salve,” a press release summarily stated.
‘We DO NOT make nor supply cannabis. Cpharm provides medicinal advice consultation to the pharmaceutical industry inside Australia. We have no goods relative to the ARTG. Cpharm has no association with cannabis or the Taliban regime. We have no idea where the Afghanistan media statement has derived from and want to reassure everyone that it should not be affiliated with Cpharm Pty Ltd Australia.’
Qari Saeed Khosty, an ‘ombudsman’ for the Taliban administration, which took power from the Afghan government earlier this summer after the U.S. military withdrawal, stated on Thursday to explain that the contract was instead with a German company also known as CPharm.
‘In Afghanistan, exclusively this company will be professionally engaged,” he stated. ‘By establishing this facility, Cpharm Cannabis Company will utilize cannabis made in Afghanistan to create spices and a style of cannabis cream.’
The Taliban representative appended that the deal will create employment for a slew of many citizens.
The contract, if it were to materialize, might seem surprising given the Taliban regime’s harsh vies toward people who utilize illicit drugs such as cannabis. Shortly following the Taliban’s control of Afghanistan, the Associated Press proclaimed that secret raids where drug users were intimidated with physical violence if they did not consent to subscribe to treatment.
The Taliban administration also outlawed the production of opium prior to the U.S. military invasion two decades ago.
However, when it comes to cannabis, Al Arabiya stated that the cannabis plant served as a primary source of income for Taliban radicals throughout the U.S. occupation. Today, it appears the administration witnesses financial possibilities again, albeit via a more professional, organized market.
A popular cannabis news outlet reached out to Cpharm of Australia for remarks, but a spokesperson did not reply in a timely manner.
Although the Taliban administration is not cultivating cannabis for the consumption we have become accustomed to, it is a great start in cannabis reform in Afghanistan.
We will keep you updated as the deal continues to materialize.