Hash harvest goes to pot in northern Pakistan Spring in Pakistan's capital brings explosions of pink bougainvillea and the subtle scent of roses. There's another unmistakable aroma wafting in the air, too, thanks to the abundance of a widespread flora: marijuana. The weed grows wild throughout Islamabad. Here, the uncultivated plant is of little interest to the city's residents, but cannabis is an important cash crop in the north-western regions of Pakistan, the centre of hashish production. Today, though, pot-farmers and hashish makers are facing hard times. The Pakistani Taliban and allied extremists have largely taken control of the hashish-rich Tirah Valley in the Khyber tribal agency. In a recent armed clash, militants attacked a pro-government tribal militia and occupied the valley. The Pakistani army has launched an offensive against the insurgents in a struggle that has claimed scores of lives on both sides. The conflict has also spurred a migration of nearly 50,000 people, who are pouring into the nearest big city, Peshawar. During the 1960s and '70s, Peshawar was a far more mellow place. It was an obligatory stop along what was called the "hippie trail," which drew American, European and other Western wanderers to Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nepal in search of groovy times. "Numerous low-budget hotels and a thriving tourist industry sprang up [in Peshawar, Lahore and Karachi] to accommodate these travellers," wrote Dawn newspaper blogger Nadeem Paracha. The hash markets in and around Peshawar still thrive. But today the stock of hashish is in the control of the occupants of the valley, the militant groups Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and Lashkar-e-Islam. Hashish is prohibited by law in Pakistan, but in Khyber and other tribal areas, the law is lightly enforced, if at all. Elsewhere in Pakistan, its use is widely tolerated. "Marijuana and its product hashish is the main source of income of our people," said Zaman Afridi, 34, a refugee in the UN-run Jalozai camp not far from Peshawar. We missed the marijuana growing season in March and only 5 to 6 per cent of people might have cultivated the crop. Due to the militancy, the prices of hashish in the drug market have gone up manifolds.