cannabisnews.com: Happy Herb's No Longer Delivers on Dope Pizzas





Happy Herb's No Longer Delivers on Dope Pizzas
Posted by FoM on February 29, 2000 at 20:56:40 PT
By Kay Johnson in Phnom Penh
Source: South China Morning Post
Happy Herb's Pizza has been an open secret among backpackers and expatriates for a long-time in Phnom Penh.The small pizzeria on the city's popular riverfront has been written about in numerous guidebooks for its secret ingredient . . . marijuana.
But the restaurant's owner says he no longer serves marijuana on pizzas, even when asked. For one thing, it's getting hard to find; for another, it's too dangerous.Police have started targeting individual shops providing marijuana, as well as the producers, as part of a campaign to rid Cambodia of its image as a drugs haven.The restaurateur says he's no longer willing to risk getting into trouble with authorities so his customers can have a pizza with the lot.Now, it's Happy Herb's in name only.Times are changing in Cambodia.For years, the Government was too busy fighting a civil war with the Khmer Rouge to pay attention to the free-wheeling lifestyle of expatriates. Marijuana, a traditional herb used in local soups, was long tolerated by local authorities.It was once available for 7,500 riel (HK$40) an ounce in open air markets. Expatriate professionals would freely light up joints in bars and restaurants.Regular users are now complaining they are having a harder time finding marijuana."Without a doubt," said one expatriate. "And it's more expensive too. Last year, US$1 would buy you a whole bagful, but now people want $10 or $20 for the same bag."Other drugs - opium, amphetamines, heroin and Ecstasy - were also once easy to buy.Cambodia's new tough stand on drugs has been championed by the country's politicians.Prime Minister Hun Sen last week travelled to the southern province of Kampot to burn 31 hectares of marijuana growing in a plantation where hundreds of workers were employed. He also promised to sack any provincial officials who were soft on drugs.Cambodia last month invited the United States Drug Enforcement Agency to open an office in its Ministry of Interior, a US official confirmed. Internet Edition, CambodiaPublished: Wednesday, March 1, 2000Copyright ©2000. Published in the South China Morning Post. 
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Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on March 01, 2000 at 06:05:29 PT
Vietnam, redux
It is interesting to note that such a staunch 'law & order' advocate as Mr. Hun Sen mysteriously allowed the war criminal and mass murderer Pol Pot to die so coveniently. I imagine he hopes to apply that same methodology to the harmless cannabis consumers in his country. And the US wants to cozy up to this guy? In the same way as we cozied up to General Thieu in Vietnam when he got rid of Ngoh Din Diem for us? Haven't we had enough of murder by proxy by sidling up to these butchers?The US never learns.
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Comment #1 posted by CongressmanSuet on February 29, 2000 at 23:34:11 PT
First, congratulations,...
 It isnt often we see an article from the "South China Morning Post", Fom, I see we take the cause seriously. LOL! Now, on to a point...Its kinda interesting how mariuana usage was not considered a problem for years and years, but all of a sudden we want to improve relations with the USA, and now we want to join your fight against this terrible scourge, please, we insist you open a drug-control office here. We are in this fight together...we are just like you, we dont want drugs to hurt us, so please, give us some money to fight it. Oh man...
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