Nepal ganja campaign seeks return of Himalayan high times

Nepal’s marijuana ban may quickly be up in smoke, as lawmakers mull a return to the liberal drug insurance policies that after made the Himalayan republic a preferred pit cease on the overland “hippie path”. Half a century in the past, 1000’s of fun-seeking backpackers from all over the world made their method to Kathmandu to purchase potent hash strains from government-licensed shops on “Freak Avenue” — a lane named for long-haired and unkempt international guests.

Washington’s world conflict on medicine, and its accompanying stress on international governments, prompted the closure of the capital’s dispensaries in 1973, together with a cultivation ban that compelled farmers to tear up their hashish crops. Now, with Western international locations easing their very own prohibitions on marijuana, the federal government and authorized reform campaigners say it’s time to cease criminalising a potent money crop with centuries-old ties to the nation’s tradition and non secular practices.