Lazarat

Albania's Council of Ministers on Friday backed a draft law potentially legalising the use of cannabis for medical and industrial purposes.

Minister of Health Ogerta Manastirliu said that an agency that would control the process was about to be established.

Albania plans to license private production of cannabis "for medical and industrial use" for companies that have experience in the field in the EU, so joining a list of some 30 countries that allows the practice.

Yet, even with 22 countries in Europe already allowing the use of cannabis for medical purposes, Albania's announcement has raised eyebrows.

The main opposition party in Albania reacted with outrage after the First Instance Court of Serious Crimes in Tirana on Thursday found former interior minister Saimir Tahiri not guilty of charges of international drug trafficking and association with a criminal organization.

Six months after Albania's ruling Socialist Party used its parliamentary majority to block a request for his arrest on suspicion of drug smuggling, Albania's longest-serving Minister of Interior, Saimir Tahiri, on Thursday said he will resign as an MP, losing his immunity from arrest in the process.

In the first two months of 2017, police have prevented more than a dozen smuggler attempts to transport tons of cannabis into Italy or Greece, shifting their focus from a war against cannabis cultivation to a fight against its export.

An official Albanian State Police source told BIRN on Friday that the fight against drug smuggling attempts is a top priority at this time of year.

Villagers in Lazarat in southern Albania fear they are going to be prejudged and stereotyped in a new movie by the Canadian movie company Mercury Films, which is due for release in June 2017.

The small village gained worldwide notoriety for the large-scale of production of cannabis for almost a decade, during which time it was virtually off-limits to Albanian police.

Albania police on Thursday said they had uprooted 216,000 marijuana plants over the last six months, almost the same amount as in the previous year - adding that growers have changed their strategy by planting smaller plots, making it harder for the police to find them.

The eight suspects were arrested on Saturday after more than 400 armed officers and special forces units, backed by army helicopters, besieged Lazarat for several days after a shootout with a suspected drug-trafficking gang.

Police arrested eight people overnight on June 27 in connection with a deadly shootout in an Albanian village known as a ?cannabis kingdom? for its industrial-scale production of the drug.