Fourth Note to “Nazoko Naaz Ko”

“Shamali” was once a magnet and attraction for American hippies and for many other foreign tourists during the 1960’s and 1970’s, for a number of reasons, one of them being its natural and scenic atmosphere and environment, and second, for its abundant and dirt cheap marijuana and hashish. They were known as the “Shamali Hippies.” Up until recently, Afghanistan supplied more than 90 percent of the world’s drugs. The most lucrative business in the whole world was the Afghan drug trade. But it appears as though the Taliban have brought all of it to a halt. Or at least they say they did. No one knows what they actually decided.