The commanding general in charge of all U.S. Marines in Afghanistan said Friday that U.S. forces have dealt a blow to the Taliban's multimillion-dollar opium business by securing deals that will take half of all poppy-producing land in the country's central area.

Afghanistan supplies 90 percent of the world's opium, the main ingredient in heroin.

Maj. Gen. Richard Mills said during a video conference call at Camp Pendleton in San Diego County that farmers who own half of such land in Helmand Province, the center of Afghanistan's poppy production, have pledged to not reseed next year.

napavalleyregister.com

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers (CBP) at the Lukeville port of entry have seized over $5 million worth of marijuana totaling almost 600 pounds since Friday from failed drug smuggling attempts.

borderfirereport.net

Through the afternoon downpour a horse plods along a muddy mountain path. I can smell him almost before he rounds the bend. He's weighed down with more than 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of freshly-picked marijuana.

A peasant farmer gees the animal along, anxious to get his crop into the dry. I stop the farmer and briefly pet the horse.

"He's called Stoner," the farmer tells me in Spanish, before breaking into a broad grin and setting off again. He was, of course, joking.

cnn.com

A peaceful protest held today (May 14) in North Vancouver in support of freeing marijuana activist Marc Emery had a wider effect than expected.

A group of 15 activists intended to occupy the constituency office of Conservative MP Andrew Saxton in protest of Emery’s pending extradition to the United States. However, when the activists arrived at 10:30 a.m., they found the office locked and empty.

straight.com

Supporters of B.C. marijuana activist Marc Emery failed in their last-ditch attempt Friday to stop his extradition to the U.S. They wanted a British Columbia court to order that he face Canadian charges first.

It is a quirk of the Canadian justice system that individuals can swear criminal charges against another person or group. In recent years, such private prosecutions have been used by activist groups to take corporations to court when government regulators are reluctant to lay charges.

cbc.ca