The 25,000 residents of Lice, a town in Turkey’s Diyarbakır province, involuntarily got high after police burned tens of tons of seized cannabis in the town center.
On April 18, Turkish authorities conducted an operation to burn over 20 tons of confiscated cannabis in Lice, which caused the air in the settlement to become thick with weed smoke.
“The smell of drugs has been enveloping the district for days,” a local man complained. “We cannot open our windows. Our children got sick, we are constantly going to the hospital.”
Cannabis Smoke Blankets the Town for Days
For at least five days, people couldn’t leave their windows open and avoided going out, for fear of becoming intoxicated and experiencing symptoms like dizziness, nausea, and hallucinations.
The destroyed cannabis, valued at 10 billion Turkish Lira ($261,433,808), weighed 20 tons 766 kilos 679 grams and had been seized from all over Diyarbakır province during 2023 and 2024.
Chairman Criticizes Destruction Method
The Chairman of the Yeşil Yıldız Association, Yahya Öğer, stated that although the success achieved by authorities in the fight against drugs is important, the manner in which the cannabis was destroyed was incorrect.
“This was perhaps done as a preventive measure to deter, but the fact that it was destroyed in the city center could cause serious discomfort to people due to the smoke of burned hemp,” Öğer told reporters.
He also criticized the decision to arrange the bags of cannabis to spell out the name of the town in burning letters:
“The fact that it was arranged to form the name LICE in burning letters only added insult to injury.”
Call for Safer Disposal Practices
Öğer added that his association recommends that police dispose of the cannabis in factories with filtered chimneys, to prevent the smoke from affecting the local population.
“As you know, the destruction or burning of such herbs can also cause serious intoxication,” Öğer explained.
“Just as tobacco harms passive smokers when used in a closed area, the smoke released by such narcotic substances when disposed of can cause serious discomfort to people on the other side. It can make people drunk, dizzy, nauseated, and cause hallucinations.
A Fisherman In Turkey Just Discovered A Roman-Era Trident At The Bottom Of A Lake