Etc...

Oops!

Ever listen to one of Paul Harvey's broadcasts? If so, you can imagine the time the veteran radio newsman would have with the recent announcement by the interior minister of Albania that his nation's police had seized a ton of cannabis. For those not familiar with the drug culture, that is the plant usually referred to as marijuana, and such a seizure would suggest that the former communist dictatorship, which has become a transit route for traffickers, is attacking the problem seriously. But, as Harvey would say: Now, for the rest of the story. It turns out that five local farmers who were arrested in the case and spent two weeks in jail ... have been set free by a court. No, the court wasn't at cross-purposes with the national government. It ruled, correctly, that the cannabis in question was of the industrial hemp variety - rather than the recreational narcotic - and was being grown under the sponsorship of a British foundation as an export crop for use in products as varied as paper, caulk, lip balm , and ice cream. What's more, this was the second time in five years that Albanian drug agents had made the same mistake. Said a spokesman for the farmers' association in the district, "It's one of those things that makes you cry and laugh at the same time." The Interior Ministry declined further comment.