TIRANA, Oct. 26 – Albanian economy expects have warned the growing cultivation of cannabis and its potential mass increase could have detrimental economic and social impacts.
Experts argue the mass cannabis cultivation will have severe economic consequences for the country, including the shift of attention from the key agriculture sector, negative social impacts, the distortion to the labour market and the strengthening of the criminal economy.
Arben Malaj, an economy expert and former finance minister says the situation could have short term and long term negative effects comparable to the collapse of the notorious pyramid investment schemes in 1997.
“Among short-term negative effects I would mention the thousands of people quitting work after falling victim to the idea of fast enrichment by cultivating drugs and not agricultural and farm products the market is in need of. The shift of demand in these drug-related activities increases difficulties on workforce and distorts the real costs of other businesses,” says Malaj, warning that the state budget is also affected by allocating more funds to the fight against marijuana cultivation instead of priority sectors such education, health.
“In the long run, problems aggravate. It is the second time after 1997 that Albanians are massively investing in criminal activities, producing temporary income, with severe mid and long term social costs,” says Malaj, also a member of the central bank’s supervisory board.
“In a few years, when we look back, the investment of money and labour force in this activity will prove an impoverishing investment with many victims,” adds Malaj, also worried over Albania’s possible deterioration of image among foreign investors.
Adrian Civici, another economy expert, also shares the idea that cannabis cultivation cannot be the future of Albania’s rural areas.
“Similar experience around the world, especially in Asia and Latin America, best prove the risks and the severe economic and social problems that such a solution provides, a trend which is extremely difficult to put an end to without drastic intervention,” he says.
“Even in the short run, a considerable part of cannabis growers seem to be specializing in the cultivation of this plant, neglecting traditional agricultural products without mentioning the fact that they are also under threat of facing legal consequences over this illegal activity. This is a situation that must be settled quickly as the economic, political and social consequences including Albania’s international image will be severe and very tough to recover,” adds Civici.
Selami Xhepa, another economy expert and former MP, says cannabis cultivation and their proceeds are also a threat to the country’s security and stability.
“For the moment, it seems that this activity is only being destined for foreign markets, but youngsters from rural Albanian areas could soon turn into drug users. This way, Albania will not only be a producer, but also a consumer of narcotics. The society’s economic and social degradation will be a very painful reality,” he says.
“There is no case in history when social groups such as farmers have enriched by cultivating narcotics; instead it was certain individuals, groups and criminal gangs who have threatened democracy, the rule of law and kept nations in poverty have impoverished,” adds Xhepa.
Ismail Beka, an agriculture expert, says cannabis cultivation which is being carried out mainly in remote mountain areas, is no solution for these regions which could develop mountain tourism. He says the notorious marijuana growing Lazarat village, in the southern Albanian district of Gjirokastra cracked down by a police operation in mid-2015, is the best example of where cannabis cultivation leads.
“Look at what happened in Lazarat, Gjirokastra. The high income did not develop this commune, but on the contrary took it to bankruptcy,” he says.
“Other consequences include the high level of the society’s criminalization, the shift of attention from the exploitation of important natural resources such as medicinal plants, the shift of focus from farming and the cultivation of agricultural products,” he adds.
The expert says the situation is also a result of the authorities’ neglect of remote rural areas where tourism can be a solution.
“Although northern Albania and especially the Dukagjin area is one of the largest regions where cannabis is cultivated this does not happen in Theth or Valbona where rural tourism seems to have turned into a sustainable source of income,” notes Ismail Beka.
The Albanian economy grew by an annual 3.2 percent in the second quarter of 2016, but agriculture, one of the key sectors employing about half of the country’s population but providing only 20 percent of the GDP, contracted for the fifth quarter in a row.
Albania’s currently developing agriculture is considered a key sector and future driver of economic growth following the ongoing slowdown of the long-ailing construction sector and remittance fueled growth in the past seven years.
However, credit to this sector still accounts for a minor 1.6 percent of credit to the private sector, being one of the most underfinanced sectors of the economy despite several projects by government and international financial institutions facilitating loans to agribusinesses.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that farmers have shifted to more lucrative cannabis production which seems to have flourished nationwide after police cracked down on the notorious Lazarat village in mid-2015 when they destroyed 102 tons of marijuana and 530,000 marijuana plants with an estimated market value at the time of some 6 billion euros, which is more than half of the country’s annual gross domestic product.
Albanian police say they have destroyed 2.4 million of cannabis plants in the first three quarters of 2016 spread over a 213 hectare area nationwide, a 3-fold increase compared to the whole of 2015.
