C Pharma, a pharmaceutical company, and the Taliban have set up a cannabis processing plant in Afghanistan. The aim of the processing center is to use cannabis for medicinal purposes. The contract for this was signed and the initial construction of the center was started. Taliban press director Qari Saeed Khosti said the center would be operational within days. The project has a budget of US $ 450 million. Company officials have entered into an agreement with the Ministry of Narcotics of Afghanistan. A Taliban spokesman said thousands of acres of cannabis farms in Afghanistan would be opened to C Farm. Hundreds of people will get jobs through this.
It is still a mystery as to which company Sifam is allied with. Sifam was initially thought to be a company from Australia. There is a well known pharma company called Sifam. However, Sifam’s officials said they were not involved with the Taliban. Australian companies are not allowed to do business in alliance with the Taliban. Cannabis and opium used for narcotics are widely cultivated in Afghanistan. The Taliban have promised to end the practice since taking office, but international experts say there has been no significant progress.
Although the cultivation and processing of cannabis is illegal in the country, cultivation continues. In 2010, the United Nations named Afghanistan the world’s largest cannabis producer. Cannabis indica and sativa varieties are mainly used here. The strongest crackdown was in 1973 in Afghanistan, where cannabis has been grown covertly and openly for decades. Zaheer Shah, the last king of Afghanistan, announced that he would completely eradicate opium and cannabis cultivation and provided $ 47 million in funding. But soon after Zaheer Shah lost power and his cousin Muhammad Dawood Khan was elected president, drug farming resurfaced.
English Summary: Taliban govt signs deal with Australian firm for cannabis centre
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