Soliders get munchies burning giant marijuana plants

It seems Afghan opium farmers are actually ditching opium in favor of marijuana, which yields far more plant and drug per acre than any other crop they could find. The news of this switch was reported a few weeks ago in the New York Times, but what wasn't reported was how soldiers tasked with eradicating the plants are dealing with the new chore:

Other than taking pot shots at Taliban soldiers, forests of massive marijuana plants are giving Canadian soldiers few options.

Afghanistan is known for its poppy trade. But huge fields of marijuana plants, ranging from six to 12 feet high, are causing unique problems.

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Taliban soldiers have been hiding in the forests, then jumping out to fire rocket-propelled grenades at vehicles. Because the plants retain energy, the insurgents can't be detected.

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Another problem is the plants retain water. When the military tried to clear the forests, they found the plants wouldn't burn. They even tried various substances such as diesel fuel, to no avail.

The soldiers did have some success with one forest, though.

"A few plants at the edge of the forest were slightly drier and brown. They caught fire and burnt for a while," said Hillier.

"Unfortunately, they had one of our rifle sections of 10 men slightly down-wind from that. We couldn't keep up with the orders for munchies."