Search Results: kathmandu (3)

CannaZine
Landrace cannabis grows wild in Nepal

Police in Nepal reported on Monday that they have made the largest marijuana bust in the nation’s history, seizing about 2.5 tons from a dealer near the capital city, Kathmandu.

Officers found 5,820 pounds (2,640 kilos) of cannabis packed into 88 plastic sacks “and bound for India,” police superintendent Sher Bahadur Basnet told Agence France Presse.
The haul had a street value in Nepal of about $155,000, according to Basnet, but it would be worth far more on the international market.

Tuhin Subhra Day/Fotopedia
Towards infinity: A Nepali sadhu smokes hashish from his chillum as part of the religious festival Shivaratri.

Police in Nepal say they have cracked down on public marijuana use at a major Hindu religious festival where the herb is smoked legally by thousands of holy men to honor the Hindu god Shiva.

The wandering mystics, known as sadhus, use an ancient legal loophole to smoke cannabis during a night of celebrations in honor of Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction, reports Agence France Presse. But unfortunately, ordinary, every-day Nepalis aren’t allowed to join them.
“We have arrested 70 people including dozens of youths who took excessive marijuana,” said Nepal police spokesman Dhiraj Pratap Shah, who apparently thinks he gets to decide what’s “excessive.”
“We have not arrested any sadhus,” Pratap claimed.

Photo: Nepal Mountain News
A sadhu smokes marijuana at Pashupatinath, Kathmandu, Nepal at the Shivaratri festival. Hundreds of holy men from Nepal and India gather yearly for the festival, where religious-based cannabis use is common.

​Thousands of holy men — known as sadhus — have been banned from selling cannabis to religious festival-goers at an ancient temple in Nepal.

Hindu devotees are gathering at the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu to celebrate the holy festival of Shivaratri. Sadhus — Hindu holy men who renounce the world around them for spiritual goals — traditionally celebrate Shivaratri by smoking cannabis, reports Joanna Jolly at the BBC.
But those found selling pot at the temple this year will face eviction or even arrest by armed police, temple officials say — even if they are holy men.
Since last week, plainclothes police have been “mingling” with the sadhus to “identify anyone selling drugs.” Meanwhile, religious festival attendees are forced to endure the sight of young, gung-ho law enforcement officers defiling and disrespecting a venerated spiritual tradition dating back thousands of years.
About 20 sadhus have already been arrested and forced to an area outside the city, according to officials.