Francesca Biagioli There is something absurd in what happened in Lice, in southeastern Turkey. The authorities authorized the open burning of over 20 tons of seized marijuana, poisoning an entire city
Dizziness, nausea, hallucinations, and packed hospitals. That’s not the script for a bizarre TV drama—it’s what actually happened a few days ago in Lice, a town of 25,000 people in southeastern Turkey.
Local officials burned 44,000 pounds (20 metric tons) of cannabis in an outdoor fire fueled by over 52 gallons of diesel gasoline. But what was intended as a disposal operation turned into a public health nightmare.
Pall-like thick smoke hung over the entire town for days, confining the residents at home while hundreds—especially children—had symptoms of intoxication.
Drone aerial footage captured vast black clouds hovering ominously close to residential homes, what seemed to be an environmental catastrophe site.
“Our children come home from school dazed. We keep shuttling back and forth to the hospital”
One of the residents, who wished not to be identified when speaking to local media, has said: “The smell is atrocious. It’s like it’s a huge gas chamber.”
A preventable health catastrophe
Turkish charitable organization Green Star Association, which opposes addiction and promotes prevention, condemned the event as entirely avoidable.
“Like tobacco smoke harms passive smokers, cannabis smoke can ill, make people dizzy and even induce them into hallucinations—especially among children”
That is what Yahya Oger, the association’s president, has stated.
To add insult to injury, prior to igniting the cannabis, authorities staged the drug-laden bags to read “Lice” on the ground—a sick publicity stunt that was more pyrotechnic display than responsible disposal.
$260 million worth of marijuana, burned irresponsibly
The worth of more than $260 million in cannabis was seized during consecutive antidrug operations in 2024. However, the disposal technique—primitive, dangerous, and carried out near residential zones under open skies—raised indignation across Turkey.
While the general health impact is immense, no formal complaints have been made so far. Nevertheless, NGOs and citizens alike are petitioning for future disposal of narcotics to be done in hard-to-reach zones or specialized facilities with effective filtration systems.
What was meant to promote public health actually seriously damaged it.
