Pot in Kazakhstan has a long  and, some would say, glorious history.  From the narcotics scandals of the late Soviet Union to Aitmatov’s brilliant fiction that dealt quite closely with the issue of wild cannabis in the steppe, this story from The National probably comes as no surprise for those knee-deep in Kazakhstan.  For others, I’m sure it is a bit of a shock.

The drug trade flourishes in the valley despite government efforts to eradicate it. With the nearby city of Shu being Kazakhstan’s main railway station, drugs are smuggled out of the area for distribution in other parts of the country, Russia, and sometimes in Europe.

This sounds awfully familiar to fans of Aitmatov’s work Плаха (The Scaffold), which features an idealistic young Russian man that wants to help the drugdealers rediscover their humanity by heading down to the steppe and embedding himself in the illegal drug trade.

This is something that happens below the radar for a lot of people.  I have met those in Kazakhstan who are oblivious to this drug culture, and those that, while not involved in it, agree that it permeates the cities and modern “youth culture.”  Make of it what you will, but I agree that it is an issue that isn’t going anywhere any time soon.