- It might sound like a pothead’s dream come true, but you really didn’t want to inhale this cloud.
After cops bust a drug operation, the confiscated substances have to go somewhere. There are many effective ways the authorities might dispose of the seized substances.
This is not one of them.
A Turkish city was recently forced into lockdown when dark clouds of billowing weed smoke enveloped it. The smoke was the result of a poorly though-out cannabis disposal operation by local law enforcement.
The authorities set ablaze more than 20 tons of weed in the open air in the city center. With no way to control where the resulting smoke went, wind pushed it toward the city.
Once the weed clouds arrived, local residents locked themselves in their homes — and for a good reason. The smoke was completely unfiltered, so it could’ve probably gotten people extremely high, but it was also likely quite toxic.
Authorities have defended the burning bush as a strong message to the area’s drug dealers. Environmental organizations, however, have condemned the stunt as reckless and unprofessional.
Drug Crackdown
The weed incident happened in late April near the town of Lice in east-central Turkey. Home to some 25,000 people, Lice is sadly a bit infamous for being a significant hub of illegal drug trafficking.
In the past couple of years, however, the local cops have cracked down hard on drug smugglers. Consequently, they’ve seized absolutely ridiculous amounts of cannabis.
Between 2023 and 2024, Lice authorities confiscated 20 tons of marijuana. After the weed had served its role as legal evidence, it was time to get rid of it.
The most effective way to dispose of the drugs, it was deemed, was to burn it (in a bonfire, not a bowl or joint). According to local media, Lice District Gendarmerie Command decided to make a show out of it.
In an open area in the city center, the cops arranged the piles of weed so that they spelled the town name, “LICE.” Then, they presumably threw some gas or another incendiary materials on the stuff, and set it ablaze.
That, it turned out, was an extremely poor decision.
Holy Smokes!
It seems that the cops hadn’t taken into account that burning vast amounts of dank kush creates vast amounts of dank smoke. As the bonfire was out in the open, the authorities had no control over which way the wind blew.
And it blew the smoke all around Lice.
The black, THC-laced clouds from the weed pyre enveloped the city, causing panic among the locals. People barricaded themselves in their homes, but even that wasn’t always enough to escape the smoke.
“The smell of drugs has been enveloping the district for days. We cannot open our windows. Our children got sick, we are constantly going to the hospital,” a local who requested to stay anonymous told Turkish media.
Apparently, this wasn’t the first time this had happened either.
“We encounter this problem every year … we want these destructions to be carried out outside the city,” the man said.
‘Unacceptable’ Method
For their part, the authorities have defended the blazing mountain of weed, saying it sends a clear message to local drug smugglers. Health and environmental organizations, however, aren’t as enthusiastic.
Yahya Öger, president of the environmental group Yesil Yildiz Association, did commend the authorities for cracking down on drug production and street dealers. But he went on to add that the method used to destroy the cannabis was “unacceptable.”
“This work was perhaps done as a preventative measure, but the fact that it was destroyed in the city center could cause serious discomfort to people due to the smoke,” Öger said.
Indeed, he went on to say that people could’ve gotten one hell of a contact high from the blazing weed. Öger likened the bonfire’s effects to second-hand smoking.
“The destruction or burning of such herbs can cause serious intoxication. … It can make people ‘drunk,’ dizzy, nauseated, and cause hallucinations,” he said.
Not only that, the smoke was mixed with exhaust from plastic bags, whatever the cops used to ignite it, and anything from the ground that went up in smoke with it. All in all, it made for one unhealthy cloud to inhale.
Öger said that his “humble recommendation” was that the cops would destroy confiscated drugs in a “more professional manner.” One such method would be to use factories with filtered chimneys outside residential areas.