Job Discussion Forums

[darkpoet]

Sorry guys - discussions of where to get illegal drugs are taboo on Dave's
Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions/comments/etc.
Paladin

[James_T_Kirk]

Hi Darkpoet,

I would hope that people wouldn't flame you merely for asking a question about marijuana. Many people that I know of in the TEFL world light it up on a regular basis, so you are not alone. I am not a big pot smoker myself, but I will pass along what little I know on the subject. Warning: Most of this is secondhand information, so take it with a grain of salt

China: Not in urban areas, at least when I was teaching there a few years ago. Possibly in rural areas, but I don't think so. Maybe in Yunnan province?

Thailand: In Bangkok, you can get it, but you would be a fool to do so. You are looking at some serious jail time. In the country, it is easy to find, and seems to be an acceptable activity as long as you aren't obvious about it.

Cambodia: This would probably be your best bet. A few years ago, it sounds like you could light up a fatty in Cambodia out in the open, but I don't believe this is the case any longer. However, I think it is still okay to smoke dope in some clubs and definitely behind closed doors. (for more info, you might want to check out www.khmer440.com)

Vietnam and Laos: I don't believe so, but I really have no idea.

Hong Kong: Can't do it openly, but attainable if you know the right people.

Singapore: Don't even think about it!

Conclusion: From what little I know on the subject, I would say Cambodia is your best bet. That, or substitute copious amounts of alcohol instead...this is doable throughout Asia! Bottoms up!

Cheers,
Kirk

[darkpoet]

Okay so one response. A burning question like that... and me expecting to get flamed... Is it sort of a non-issue for most of you people or is god's green herb just not as popular as it used to be?

Come on, even if you know just one little tidbit... anything. Thank you James_T for the honesty. It prompted a serious consideration of Camboda (although pot is mild compared to what's available there)... AND YOU DON'T EVEN SMOKE IT!!!

And Cambodia sounds... interesting. But for a first-time experience teaching... well. I could say a few things there... I just don't think it's feasible. Korea is a definate option... especially since I read somewhere on this board you can get pot in Soeul. But Korea is very tough on pot (like Singapore is, I guess). What about Japan? It seems to me of all of "Westernized" Asia, Japan might actually treat it as liberally as Canada or Europe... but this is just an ill-informed guess and it would be nice even to be told how far off I am.

And what about India...? Buddhism and mary-jane go hand-in-hand - at least for me they do...

[Steiner]

[chi-chi]

Don't do it, but know plenty who do.
GO TO TAIWAN
Korea...attainable, but you DON'T want to get caught.
Chi-Chi

[Jess_Laoshi]

China -- Kirk is right, Yunnan is a big spot for it, Dali in particular, where the authorities blatantly turn a blind eye to local farmers cultivating marijuana.

You don't want to get caught in China with it, but at least where I was living, you'd have to be drawing attention to yourself in some other way first in order to get busted for weed as a foreigner. The authorities in Yunnan are more worried about the province's massive heroin problem than they are about pot smoking EFL teachers. Add to that the fact that you could smoke pot right in front of most ordinary Chinese people and they wouldn't know what you were doing, and that makes going about your herb loving ways in an inconspicuous manner not too difficult. That's just in Yunnan though, I don't know about other places.

An interesting side note about the general ignorance regarding weed in China -- About two blocks from my apartment, smack in the middle of Kunming, there was a huge pot field growing in an abandoned lot. It was completely conspicuous, almost right across the street from a major university, thousands of people walking past it every day. It stayed there unnoticed for over a month before I finally noticed the police uprooting it one day, right as it was about to bud. The fact that it took them over a month to do anything about it should tell you how seriously they take marijuana in Yunnan.

[denise]

Japan--

You can find it, but the laws are anything but liberal, from what I've heard.

d

[fat_chris]

Jess_Laoshi,

Speaking of pot plants, there was one growing ON my campus in Chengdu

(no, it wasn't in my apartment).

The herb in China isn't strong though. It's more of a quantity vs. quality situation. I knew of a few teachers who found several plants and would go on a gathering run early in the morning and pack their backpacks full of the stuff.

[Jess_Laoshi]

Yeah, the quality isn't good at all. I had heard similar things about Chengdu, although I've never been there myself.

My first time in Dali, I accompanied a friend of mine on a pot finding mission since he was freaked out about doing it alone. It was a quick lesson in economics. It's easy to see why the local authorities don't actively discourage this market, which, as far as I can tell, is aimed mainly at foreigners.

After a long ordeal involving nothing less than code-words and subterfuge (!) we ended up at the house of this farmer who brought out two huge baskets (the kind they carry on a pole over the shoulder) full to the brim with marijuana wrapped up in newspaper. We were both kinda freaked out when a man walked into the room glaring at us, went over to a table, picked up a huge knife, and then walked out again, still glaring. The farmer says to us, "Oh, that's just my son!" I guess maybe junior didn't approve of his dad's dope dealing ways. Anyhow, my friend ended up buying a kilo of pot from him for 300 RMB. It was pretty dirty, but not really worse than the stuff we get in Texas coming up from Mexico.

In Dali there are these ladies on the street who will approach you with these books with these books of pictures of silver jewelry and crap. Then they'll say "ganja, ganja, you want smoke" or something like that under their breath (in english!). Before we found that farmer, we followed one of these ladies to her home, where she tried to sell us about a gram of what appeared to be sawdust for 50 RMB. It was the best quality, she said, and let us sample, but I wasn't impressed.

These people must make a killing (by local standards) off the backpacker crowd there. I also knew a few teachers and some local Chinese kids who would make runs to Dali occasionally to stock up. I have wonder how long that market will endure before the authorities stop tolerating it.

[fat_chris]

I knew of one foreign teacher in Chongqing who would spend his weekends by taking the train down to Kunming, heading over to Dali, filling his backpack up with the wacky tabaccy (all he brought with him for his "odyssey" was an empty backpack!) and then head back to CQ with his supplies for the next few weeks.

Heck, if anyone in Dali approached me saying "ganzhe, ganzhe" I would say, "no thanks, I don't want any sugarcane."

[darkpoet]

And not that I think India is full of Buddhists... ha! But India was the birthplace of the Buddha... and it is still dominant along the northwest border (next to Tibet). I've just heard stories from other travellers that Buddhist monks like their ganja.

Tawain or China - that's it? Oh well, at least I like commies... they don't lock you away as long as you're just picking and smoking, right? I don't really care if it's not 100% illegal (only 2-3 countries in the world can claim this, I'll bet)... it's not legal in Canada either but buying small quantities and smoking it are treated like parking tickets... You'd have to be unlucky to even get a fine.

Anybody know about Thailand? or know for sure about Japan?

Maybe this is a small issue to hinge on where I go to teach English but I need to know so as not to go butt-fucking crazy...

[Just a guy]

I�m curious about what one does with a kilo�..

Where I�m at, the weather seems perfect for growing in the summer & I don�t think anyone here knows what it is either, I�m thinking about bringing a few seeds back after my winter trip to Hawaii & planting them, just to see how they grow, I don�t smoke anymore but it would be fun to grow some.

I�ve see a lot of kids with pot sayings or pictures on their shirts, I don�t think they know what it is, aside from a T with English words on it.

[senor boogie woogie]

Hola!

Chongqing to Dali to buy weed. That's a long train ride!

This last August, I went to Yunnan and Laos on vacation. I went to Yunnan on a dippy Chinese tour, and in Dali in a shopping area, a woman came up to me and offered me some smoke. I was going to jump on it, but I was with the group, and our "guide" hustled me along. I really dont know if the guide knew what I was trying to do or not. Anyway, Yunnan is the best place to find smoke in China. Outside of Kunming, Yunnan is a beautiful, magical place.

Then I flew over to Laos. Laos is the opposite of China. Very quiet and Buddhist. It seemed like everyone there had a grasp of the English language. The capital Vientiene only has about 300,000 people living there. I rented a motorbike for 5 dollars (try to bring USD) and drove around the city. I know my way around that city now. Liked the Blueberry Fanta. Laos is one of the poorest nations on Earth, but one does not get that feeling in the capital. It had convienent stores, shops, and a nice beer garden. Problem was that the government shuts the bars down about 11 o'clock.

Next day, took a bus to Vang Vieng. Found a "pizza" place that sold marijuana shakes for about 2.50 USD. Ungodly powerful stuff. I met some English people and they were just wasting good pot by putting it in drinks and eating it. So cheap. But really, after being there for about two days, I was really bored with the place. There was a river to go tubing in (which was cool), the landscape was lovely, but after that, there was nothing to do. At night, people sat in outdoor patio type places and watched movies like it was summer camp. Not to mention that many of the people were not hippees or freaks, but rich kids on long holiday. Many were from Israel. Like I said, the landscape was pretty, but not spectacular by any stretch. The land actually disappointed me, although I did see the Mekong.

Also, the food in Laos was excellent. They sell Baguettes, which is "French Bread". I ate western food like a tourist, but it was wonderful. Garlic bread, tomato soup, the best cheeseburger I've eaten since coming to Asia. They sell a beer called "Lao-Beer" which is absolutely fabulous.

Never been to Cambodia, but weed is supposed to be rock bottom cheap and available everywhere. I want to do Thailand, but mainly go there for the beaches and the nightlife, not so much to get stoned.

The Chinese word for marijuana is da-ma or 大麻.

SENOR

[scot47]

大麻.

How do you pronounce that ? I knew that Chinese was tonal but man .............!

[been_there]