The Congolese Tribes Selling Weed to Survive | WEEDIQUETTE

[Music] I'm outside GMA in the Democratic Republic of Congo to meet feza cla a single mom who makes her living from weed so you put it in there and you just roll it up tight do you smoke marijuana fore [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] weed has been used traditionally by humans around the world for hundreds of years it wasn't until 1961 that the United Nations under pressure from the United States drafted International drug policy that deemed marijuana an illicit narcotics forcing many countries to Outlaw it once illegal pot became more valuable this led large criminal organizations to seize the weed Business from The Common People and treat it as a cash crop but in the Democratic Republic of Congo a vast nation in the middle of Africa far less attention is paid to this herb Big Time criminals and militias are concerned with Mining and exporting Rare Minerals like gold and col tan leaving weed which grows abundantly around the country to the people but since pot is illegal in Congo it's worth more than regular vegetables like beans and potatoes this means that marijuana has become a cash crop for the common man I wanted to see firsthand how these people use weed to better their lives so I've come to [Music] Congo so I'm in the mountains of Eastern Congo and I'm going to meet a group of pig meats uh they're some of the poorest people in one of the poorest countries on Earth pygmies have historically been a nomadic people living in the woods and moving Camp every few months they hunted gathered and planted fast growing crops for survival but Congo's ongoing War and the realities of modern society have forced them to start living a settled non-nomadic life as the pygmies try to adapt and find new ways of survival the weed that they've smoked for centuries known here as bongi might be the key [Music] perched on the side of a mountain in North kibu province is the UTI pygmy [Music] Village to learn more about their way of life I'm hanging out with Aaron mahand The Village's Chief [Music] Hunter if you're able to does the bangi help you to hunt to trap things what is this that you're [Music] making uhhuh okay something to eat thises is how you get something to eat [Music] okay we're friends Rafiki I like how you use the back of your machete as a hammer oh boy making a sharp STI here these are Millennial old ways of staying alive and that's what they're doing here oh I see so he's making kind of a false ground you can you'll cover it with leaves [Applause] [Music] right oh here we go and this is the news where did you learn how to do this [Music] I see sure yeah now the leaves this is an ingenious if like you know rudimentary trap the park is over there why don't you go to the park to do this more often Vera National Park the stunning 3,000 squ M protected area in eastern Congo that's filled with gorillas and a vast array of wildlife was the pygmy's home and traditional hunting ground for centuries but during Congo's Decades of war the park became Woodland Hideout and military base for many armed militia groups pygmies who either lived in the park or journeyed inward to hunt were forced out when the congales government closed veruna to human inhabitants to prevent poaching and deprive the rebel groups of their Hideaway but SWS of the park as well as other remote areas in Congo are still under the control of rebels and militias [Music] right so it's very D they K they'll kill you at the park kill you and has that happened to anyone that you know I'm sorry to hear that man that's [Music] qu do you think that the pygmies Will Survive or is the future of pygmies very dark the idea that pygmies are less than human has deep and painful historic roots in the colonial period of the 19th century racist theories of evolutionary biology Peg pygmies as protohumans a missing link between man and ape in 1904 a group of pygmies were brought to the World's Fair in St Louis and one was later exhibited in the Bronx zoos monkey house today many in congales society still consider pygmies as second class citizens the term pygmy is considered by many to be derogatory but there's no single English word to replace it shunned by society and without land to cultivate food the pygmies are some of the most vulnerable people on the planet among this world of herd weat is the only thing they can count on Congo's pygmies have endured hardship and persecution ution for Generations but they're remarkably resilient one of the only resources they have to help them survive is weed a plant they've been cultivating and smoking for centuries and that grows all around this Village for making weed tea to treat diarrhea might sound a bit far-fetched but a recent study of the AA pygmies in the Congo Basin found that those who smoked pot were significantly less likely to be heavily infected with parasitic worms with diarrhea being a leading cause of death in Congo maybe the pygmy ancestors were on to something you got these leaves just from what was growing around the hood right unable to tap the resources of the forest the pygmies have now turned to their ancestral source of Medicine as a new source of income so what do you guys end up doing with this weed and like how do you package it and how long does it take to dry [Music] [Music] who buys it from you and where do you sell it do you face any problems when you try to take the weed into market and sell to people for [Music] for [Music] [Music] as night fell on the village I saw more people lighting joints than lighting cooking fires and I thought about how their relationship to weed is different from anyone I've ever met before I've seen people find Hope in the face of life-threatening illness through using weed but for the pygmies their connection to the plant is far more basic I wanted to know who else in Congo was using weed to cope with their circumstances on the edge of lake kevu lies a city of Gma home to 1 million people many of whom live in abject poverty with no electricity or running water this is largely due to Congo's seemingly endless Wars fueled by the country's mineral resources which have devastated the economy and left many people jobless and traumatized I've come to meet Ki a resourceful single mother of 10 who's found a niche business easing the pain of her community by selling them illegal weed I met her in the alleyway behind her [Music] house you're sort of like got to run the weed show around here I don't I don't speak T but what you are doing there is very I'm doing this well you think I'm doing good job [Music] [Laughter] what did you say maybe you show me some of the ganja oh yeah that's the ganja number one G is this from from let number one what about you guys you guys like smoking the SED [Music] I how long have you been selling weed to people and why did you start did you see other people selling weed like how did you know that that was a good way of making money I mean that's terrifying you don't know whether he's alive or dead how long has he been at War for MH from what I understand weed is illegal in Congo are you afraid that you'll get punished we we and who are the majority of your customers who are they so even soldiers come here [Music] [Music] [Music] there's a lot of pain right this is what you're saying there's a lot of pain here and a lot of people come to you to smoke weed to sort of ease that pain or lessen it somehow what other options are there for you and what what other options are there for women in Congo have either of you had experience being a prostitute is that something you had to do beforehand no husband what can I do yeah some I I do that some sometimes [Music] having found the weed trade to be a way to get by Kiri now wants to help other women I caught up with her again at a market in GMA where she was buying clothes for her children and showing another woman Fez Clair the rewards of slinging dope [Music] can you tell me why you enjoy telling other women how they can make a living and being sort of better at business uh with bangi K's Getting By by dealing pot but it feels like she's doing more she's empowering women to be self-sufficient by selling weed instead of selling their bodies and for her community she's creating a safe space and a back alley congregation for those hoping to take a break from their distressing [Music] lives after Decades of Civil War in Congo the key player in maintaining peace is the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo known by the French acronym f a DC while being a soldier in the Army is one of the few stable jobs men can hold down that income doesn't stop some of the 150,000 members of the army from wanting more I've come to meet MBA yav and his wife Elise to discuss their side business selling pot what's your position within the military [Music] in what branch of the military police police military so I understand that many soldiers smoke marijuana and they do it a lot I also understand that a lot of soldiers end up selling weed also is that true and why [Music] and what is your salary from the military uh why doesn't the military pay you enough why is your salary so low how long have you guys been married for how long have you been smoking weed and how long have you been selling it [Music] okay I get that and how long have you been selling weed for diesel 10 years altogether is it something that you feel like you have to do or is it something is there anything else that you could do to supplement your income why is it that you use bangi uh to to try to get more money for your family is it something you would do otherwise if you did didn't have to have the money I mean you hope for your children your children as you're saying is kind of your future your children defines how your life went and I understand that I mean that's something I think is very key to people's lives and so naturally you would do something that would help out your family you sell weed where does that weed come from so it all comes from the bush outside of GMA how far exactly M those are the two places kachunga and masi maissi is one of the many territories in the massive Democratic Republic of Congo that is not under government control and is instead run by Rebel groups while the FC Congo's Army is officially at war with these Rebel groups soldiers like mutaba regularly Venture into Rebel territory to reup on weed for their side business due to the Army's inability to secure the country on their own the UN has deployed the largest peacekeeping mission on Earth I've come to speak with G's un bureau chief Daniel Ruiz to learn more about the present state of the conflict how many armed groups are there operating in eastern Congo yeah there's there's around 46 armed groups operating in in eastern Congo and which would you say is the most threatening to the stability of Eastern Congo Congo at large well definitely it is the fdlr the whole war was built around the ftlr we can say that it is the Cornerstone of uh the conflict in the DRC the fdlr is a militia group started by The Killers who committed the Rwandan genocide in 1994 they slaughtered close to 1 million of the minority Tootsie population in just over a 100 days using farm tools like machetes when the tosis eventually stopped the onslaught the perpetrators fled into neighboring countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo it was here that they formed the fdlr with the aim of returning to Rwanda to overthrow the tosti government they have since spent two decades camped out in eastern Congo raping killing and ter terrorizing the local population the cost of war is very high they have to find resources uh the Congo has a lot of resources you have all kinds of minerals from copper Cobalt you have Rare Earth in this area and these are the real root causes uh the real reason why the war is not has not ended most of these group have shifted to predators that are trying to enrich themselves through the illegal trade of natural resources and the armed groups on top of that are killing maming raping burning people MSI the area where gma's weed comes from also has mines for minerals like gold and col tan it's been aggressively controlled and protected by the fdlr since they arrived in Congo 20 years ago I wanted to know what life was like for the farmers growing weed in Rebel controlled territory I'm following Congo's we trail to the Missi Region 13 hours north of GMA where the weed that many people are selling is grown but Missi is also home to the rebels who are tearing the country apart up until now I've been driving on a road controlled by the congales military but now I'm going to take a left to go in an area uh controlled by the fdlr [Music] upon arrival The Village Elders requested to meet me since the region is in FDL our hands these leaders must have ties to the group so I wanted to see what I could learn from them about the rebels and about the weed trade in Mai thank you very much for taking the time to talk to me and having me in your village a if it to we're here filming a documentary about the way that marijuana plays a role in Congo when did the fdlr first come to this Village and what was it like then it's in 1994 mhm that's after the genocide right so it's been almost it's been more than 20 years now since fdlr and this Village have been together problem what role does the congales government play in this Village do they have a presence do they send the Army here what do they come here to do when they visit I mean what I guess surprises me is that from my understanding the conges Army and the fdlr um are fighting entities so what I'm hearing from you guys is that here in this in this town and Village in this area the fdlr just lives do they not want to fight who should respond please m M yeah what rank within the fdlr are you Sergeant Sergeant Serge Sergeant in the FD and how long have you been a member of the group 30 years 30 years and have you been have you lived in uh Congo for this entire 30 years or beforehand you come from Rwanda our story is about the way that marijuana plays a role in congales society uh who buys it who sells it and who smokes it and one thing that we find particularly intriguing is that many times it is the FC or their wives who are buying weed from places that are controlled by the fdlr I don't know anything think about this okay nothing at all as in you don't know that there is uh weed that's grown in this region or you don't know if uh members of the FDC are buying weed from this region [Music] sure it might not be the fdlr that's growing the weed necessarily but by keeping the roads in passable condition uh and by offering protection to this region they support the people who are making money and making a living growing weed which is something very important to people [Music] [Music] I don't understand I'm I'm sorry that you're disappointed I'm not I hope to only uh show my gratitude for you having us in this Village so my apologies I I don't know what do you should I explain myself further or do we just leave it at that let me explain to [Music] [Music] it made sense that the village Chief assumed I wanted to find mines for gold or precious stones it's estimated that Congo contains untapped Precious Minerals worth $24 trillion which is greater than America's GDP and militias like the fdlr survive off its illegal exportation weed on the other hand seemed like an afterthought to these guys thank you very much for having us in your village and we look forward to spending the night and seeing tomorrow morning [Music] again I'm hiking to a weed field about 3 hours outside of kou a village that's controlled by the fdlr after a tense night the elders and I were able to clear up our misunderstanding and they granted me permission to find weed growing in the [Music] region while the fdlr claims to have no interest in wheed itself they do hold great sway over the Missi region I wanted to know what life was like for the pot Farmers here who grow under Rebel control [Music] aha so here it is this is your weed and how many plants are there here I'm [Music] not oh look how tall they are this one's like twice as tall as this looki right that's a good one but now we're just surrounded by it it's like it's all round us the plants are twice the size of of our [Music] height it's good guys like you did a good job this is nice weed this is the part yeah this is like like the the head butt TOA what does TOA mean and I mean you look at it you can see little crystals these are this is a male plant as you can see the seeds it's also very sticky you get that problem and so who do you end up selling the weed that you grow here to are you afraid that it's still [Music] illegal sure does the fdlr protect you guys when you try to move your weed into right like how much money do you stand to make every time that you harvest [Music] [Music] these farmers are talking about living with dignity being able to have a clean jacket and to provide for their kids needs and they're doing this by selling to the congales Army forging an unexpected tie across battle [Music] lines it's so interesting to see how marijuana this thing that like you know you can just consider like this stupid drug that you do to get high but here in Congo it's so much more this has been an eye openening Journey for me while I've been focused on weed in the US and the shift in culture as it legalizes what I found here in Congo is that weed offers a glimpse into the lives of people whose stories get drowned out by the clamor of war in this war torn country where people are cut out of the immense wealth generated by resources like gold weed is sort of a democratic natural resource growing through the cracks of a broken Society weed won't cure Congo's travesties but it's a surprisingly effective band bandage holding people's lives together and taking root deep in the congales soil [Music]

Channel: VICE

Views: 4,168,356

Keywords: documentary, documentaries, docs, interview, culture, lifestyle, world, exclusive, independent, underground, videos, journalism, vice guide, vice.com, vice, vice magazine, vice mag, vice videos, film, short films, movies, weed, marijuana, weed news, weediquette, weediquette autism, medical marijuana, drugs, drug, vice weediquette, cannabis, california, cali weed, new york weed, new york marijuana, weed congo, congo, The Republic of the Congo, congo weed, marijuana congo, congolese

Id: REu0M_naDIs

Length: 42min 16sec (2536 seconds)

Published: Tue May 21 2024