(DNE Photo )
Debate on the legalisation of hashish was raised in Egypt recently, due to demands and proposals in that regard submitted to Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb. These demands are based on United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) statistics, which place Egypt in 12th place worldwide in terms of hashish production.
The country produces over 18m kg of hashish and over 73m kg of marijuana every year. Statistics from the Cairo and Giza Tobacco Traders Association outline there are approximately 40 million – 45 million drug users in Egypt, besides foreign users who live in Egypt.
The US is one country which has failed in banning marijuana (hashish), and as a result, some US states, such as Washington DC, Michigan, Maine and Colorado, have sought to legalise its use. Washington legalised marijuana cultivation and its use in February 2015, after it enacted a voter-approved ballot initiative.
“Marijuana smokers are not going to attack and kill a cop,” according to Washington DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier.
Morocco and Lebanon are two Arab countries which are also facing demands to partially legalised hashish, influenced to some extent by the success of a number of US states in this issue. Lebanon is the fifth largest exporter of hashish in the world according to UNODC’s 2011 figures.
After a protracted fight in the UK over the criminalisation of drug addiction, demands were also raised to begin decriminalising the use and possession of almost all drugs, to follow the example of Portugal.
Portugal, Uruguay and the Netherlands are successful models of the legalisation and decriminalisation of hashish/marijuana. In 2001, Portugal became the first country in the world to scrap penalties on cultivating, trading and using Marijuana.
The Netherlands is famous for drugs tourism, as it allows the smoking and using of drugs in the streets. It has, however, started to enforce constraints on drug-use through laws banning foreigners entering marijuana clubs, restricting them to citizens instead.
According to global black market information website, www.havocscope.com, the total black market value of hashish is $3.796bn. In Egypt, the price per gram of hashish is currently $2.7, the site said.
The annual size of the hashish trade is EGP 42bn, according to head of the Tobacco Traders Association Osama Salama.
Osama said the Association submitted a proposal on legalising the hashish trade for economic purposes, rather than religious, health or social purposes.
“Our motivation to help the country in combating the budget deficit through imposing taxes on hashish after its legalisation instead of imposing taxes on income and on important and necessary products,” Salama added.
Salama further said: “Through studying and analysing the declared official statistics for the hashish trade on the Egyptian street, we found that the size of the hashish trade annually is EGP 42bn.”
“The government spent more than EGP 1bn in combating the hashish trade and it fails by a rate of 85% and succeeds in 15% of seizure cases,” he added.
Salama said the EGP 1bn dedicated to security agencies to catch the dealers and traders, such as the Anti-Narcotics Administration, can be saved. He noted that, after legalisation, the current government can devote themselves to the fight against the use of chemicals and dangerous drugs. Legalisation will, he said, also save the efforts of security services, the armed forces, border guards and General Intelligence to protect national security.
According to a recent Ministry of Finance report, the GDP deficit ratio was 2.9% for the first seven months of the current financial year versus 1.7% during the same period of the previous fiscal year (FY).
The hashish trade has spread significantly in Egypt, according to. He noted that large amounts of hashish have entered Egypt during the past two years.
Elkholy told Daily News Egypt that those who encourage the legalisation or decriminalisation of hashish are looking for a media show. He added that Egypt is not a producer of hashish.
Elkholy said that if the country goes onto legalise hashish, the administration will disagree, as Egyptian youth are not the same as foreigners, as they are not as well-cultured as foreigners.
If the country legalises hashish, it should also legalise the smuggling of weapons. Elkholy added that those who imagine that legalisation can contribute to solving the budget deficit are “dreaming, because the trade needs millions of hard currency”.
Elkholy added that the Anti-Narcotics Administration confiscated 86 tonnes of hashish in 2014, compared to 83 tonnes in 2013, and the successful rate of confiscations rated about 70%.
“Hashish is the top drug circulating in Egypt, followed by opium. They are frequently traded in the slums and poor areas,” said Elkholy. “Due to efforts for combating hashish trade, one of hashish traders established the first factory for hashish in Alexandria governorate to achieve local-sufficiency but the administration arrested the man and closed the factory.”
