SUVA, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Marijuana has become Fiji's cash crop of choice because of its quick harvesting period and higher financial value, said the country's Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu.
The drug has displaced traditional crops, creating a worrying shift where marijuana is now feeding into the legitimate economy, the commissioner warned, Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) reported on Thursday.
Marijuana's widespread cultivation makes it cheaper and more accessible than synthetic drugs, with Kadavu, the fourth-largest island in Fiji, identified as a major base of production, according to the FBC.
Tudravu warned that Fiji is no longer just a transit point for drugs and this dependency was becoming generational, with younger people seeing the crop as a fast way to make money.
The commissioner called for community-based solutions that provide real alternatives to drug cultivation. ■