That are left will be much smaller. But its far from clear if this expensive local solution can work on a global scale. And now the weather. Good evening. The latter track artery drive him to the weather is set to continue through the weekend. Things will turn called into the new working week. This was the senior bristol taken by one of our weather watchers. Clear skies across temperatures will step down very quickly. Most dry. It will remain chilly tonight, and that easy. Temperatures are five or six celsius in towns and cities. Colder than that in the country. The start of the London Marathon looks predominantly dry and there is a chance of seeing the light, passing shower. Hipsters by the afternoon are up to 16 celsius. Things will star ina are up to 16 celsius. Things will star in a much colder by london and tuesday with the return to win the showers and maintained frosts. Hello. This is bbc news. The headlines at 8. 30pm theresa may says the conservatives are a low tax party as she addresses labour claims that shes planning a tax bombshell. Tight security across france as the country prepares for the first round of the president ial election. More than 100 Afghan Soldiers are killed or wounded in one of the worst attacks by the taliban on an army base. Spurs are out of the fa cup, after a thrilling 11 2 win for chelsea at wembley takes them into the cup final. Britains first coal free day since the Victorian Era the National Grid says 2a hours worth of electricity has been generated without using coal for the First Time Since 1882. Now on bbc news, Benjamin Zand takes the bbcs Mobile Bureau to lebanon and explores lebanons cannabis trade. Translation hello and welcome to sunny lebanon. This is bbc pop up. Bbc pop up is the bbcs Mobile Bureau. We travel to different cities for a month at a time and make documentaries out of your story ideas. And this month, its beirut. Lebanon is a very small country at the edge of the middle east. Just bordering syria and israel. Historically, these borders have meant that its been at thw centre of many middle eastern conflicts, despite its small size. For centuries, its acted as a refuge for minorities in the middle east. Translation we have christians, sunni muslims, shia muslims, druze. Theres no place like it on earth. It has taken in more Syrian Refugees than every other country in the world except turkey, with one in five people in lebanon being a refugee. For two years, the country was left without a president , but that ended in october last year, when we elected this guy. Translation so were currently doing the bbc pop up story booth. Basically, we set up a camera in random locations about town, and we ask people what stories they want us to do. Dont worry. Say whatever you want to say. Im nervous the best thing about lebanon is probably, at my age, is the freedom. What i really love about it is its diversity. Wherever you go, you will find people from different sects, religions. The majority is muslim and christian, there are probably about 100 druze in the whole of lebanon. It is very friendly. I mean, you come down to a street like this, you will see christians, youll see muslims. Theyre all happy, theyre all having a great time together. Most people are at least bilingual. You have the lebanese language, and then either you speak english or french or both. Actually, a lot of food came from lebanon. You know, hummus, tabbouleh, falafel. Theres. Whats it called . Its like the meat on the stick. I forgot what its called lebanon is like a mix of positivity and negativity. So you have really grumpy people and youve got really happy people, ambitious people trying to do things. What would a good story be . Quickly give me a good story. I think it would be interesting to highlight the fact that beirut was destroyed and rebuilt seven times. Were not having a frank conversation amongst ourselves regarding many topics. Were talking about womens issues, income inequality, gay rights. I suggest you go to the bekaa valley, because its controlled by shias, and a lot of shias are drug lords. Try to find out where the supply of hash or hashish is coming from . They try to grow it in baalbek. How would it be better if it were legal in this country . I was told that lebanon has a lot of hashish. I guess it does. You know, you dont tell people you smoke hashish. Like, ive never tried it. Im not looking to get into Something Like that, but i know a lot of people do. And if youre caught for it, youre in deep trouble. Fantastic. You guys were awesome. It looks that theres only one story we can do then, hashish. Lets go and find Pablo Escobar. Cannabis has been in lebanon for centuries, but i quickly found most people were not keen to talk about it openly on camera. Punishment just for smoking can be harsh here, so people dont want to admit that they do it. Eventually, i found someone who had written extensively about hash in lebanon and he agreed to talk, as long as we didnt show his face. Tell me what i need to know about hashish in lebanon. Everybody smokes hash. Its so common now across all classes of people, all regions. What is the law . If its not your first offence, it could be anywhere from six months up to a year. If youre a dealer, it becomes between three and five years. Everyone knows someone who was caught. Sometimes you need to get a urine test for the judge. Some people actually charge for their urine, because theyre one of the few people who dont smoke. But no one really talks about it much, because it is still extremely stigmatised. A person who suffers through that will be ostracised from the rest of his social circles. Who is making money from hash . Everyone is making money from hash. From the growers, who need it because nothing else is viable for them to grow, the dealers, of course and sadly, the people entrusted in fighting drugs are also making a good chunk out of it. But the only people really paying the price are young people. Where you find the dealers in the country . The big dealers are usually in the bekaa. I wanted to speak to one of these growers myself, to ask how they could possibly justify a trade which is illegal and, id heard, violent. So we headed to the bekaa valley. During lebanons civil war, Cannabis Cultivation flourished here, and id heard the war in syria war was causing something similar to happen now. So were just arriving into the bekaa valley. This place is pretty much the most dangerous and lawless part of the country. Its very close to syria and in the very recent past, this place has seen isis infiltrations, kidnappings, bombings and a host of not very nice things. But it is famous for something very different to all that, and thats having absolutely massive lebanese hashish farms. Weve arranged to speak to a lebanese drug lord. Its going to be interesting. Lets hope it ends well. Is this an army base . Its an army base. So were actually near syria . Yes, syria is actually right this way. If infiltration happens, it can happen through here, so there are a lot of checkpoints here to also make sure nobodys going towards beirut, because most of the Suicide Bombings that happened in beirut, everybody came through the bekaa valley. Were currently waiting for the Hashish Farmer. Hes asked us to come here, because he doesnt want us turning up to his house yet, because he doesnt know who we are. If you look over that mountain there, just behind it is where youll find isis, where youl find groups like jabhah nusrah. Its pretty dangerous. Nice to meet you. Thank you for having us. Nice to have the knowledge that there is a couple of grenades in the back of the car. In the car . Oh, theres another one. There you go. Hes just handed me, is this an ak 47 . Hes passing the gun around. Does everyone know who you are . That youre the kind of kingpin here . So if we tell someone were with you, were safe . Here we go. This is how you can tell someone is a bit of a drug kingpin, his house is about ten times bigger than anyone elses in the area. Its actually like an episode of narcos. Fun and games, but if we bleep this guy off, its game over. Do you have kids . 17 kids . thats a lot of loving going on. Youve got a golden pistol. Im being handed guns like nobodys business. Is it loaded right now . Oh, my god. Hes just pulled out a machine gun and a bazooka. Is that a bazooka . What do you use the bazooka for . Oh, really . Youve used this against isis . Ali told us that recently, the so called Islamic State infiltrated a nearby village. He says as soon as he heard about it, hejumped in a truck and picked up weapons with some other Hashish Farmers. This is hard to verify, but according to ali, they won and fought them off. Why do you have so many weapons . Do you have to defend yourself quite a lot . Because they are distracted with isis, they are distracted with the threat of syria. Have you actually fired this . Have you walked, like. Is this where the magic happens . Why did you choose black and red . Youve got good taste. It seems that everybody is your enemy, because you have. Hezbollah dont want you to do this, the government dont want you to do this, isis. Who is on your side . What do you want your legacy to be . Do you want to be really famous . Do you want everyone to know who you are and what you did . Is it the hash money that bought this house, basically . This is the farm. He is giving me a tour. Here we go. Wow mountains of hashish. Hash is illegal in lebanon. How can you be so open about it . Have you had to actually fight against the government to protect your crops . Theres just hash everywhere, were soaked in hashish. How much money do you make . Who is buying this hashish . How did you get hashish from here to europe . Its difficult to verify alis claims about the government, but lebanon is thought to have big problems with corruption. You remind me a bit of someone like Pablo Escobar. Youre happy to appear on camera, youre saying youre helping the poor. Have you actually been convicted by the government of anything in a court . How does that feel, to be sentenced to death . You have a hashish farm, you have killed a lot of people. Do you not deserve to go to jail . If you ran this country, would you legalise hashish . You seem like a difficult man to pin down, because on the one hand, you say you farm this to try and make money for the people in the area, but then you also kill people and you are dealing in an illegal trade. Do you think you could have done it another way that wasnt illegal . Do you think ill get into trouble with the police when i go back to beirut, because i have hashish leaves on my shoes and on my clothes . That was a weird day. Ali is like a really friendly uncle who also happens to be a killer and a drug dealer. And he was massively open about it. But yeah, back to beirut now. Im a bit concerned, because weve all got hashish all over us and if they find you, you can get in serious trouble and be put in jail. Yeah, so were going to have to try dust ourselves off. There are checkpoints all the way back. Ali escorted as out of his village, as he said it was unsafe to do otherwise. Then we headed back to beirut. Despite being covered in layers of hashish from alis factory, we headed straight to the police office. I wanted to know how ali could be so open about this without getting into trouble with the authorities. A lot of people im speaking to here keep telling me the police are too quick to punish the small time consumers and are way too reluctant to punish the big time growers in the country. So to see what the police think of that, ive agreed to meet the head of Drug Enforcement here to see if he agrees. Lets go. Hello. English . Colonel chamseddine . No, general chamseddine. Bbc. Yes. Im not purposely this close to you in the lift. Where are we going now . To the basement. What is in these things . Hashish. Do you consider hashish as bad as heroin . Hashish is the most dangerous drugs forthe human being. How many people do you arrest each year for hashish . We arrest thousands of people, hundreds a year. 2,000, 3,000 during a year. I can put you injail for three years. Three years for hashish . Yes, all the boxes, we have drugs. In bekaa valley, we have big agriculture for thousands square of land for hashish. You know about that . We went to a farm to see. Oh, you went to a farm . That was one of the most Amazing Things was seeing a Hashish Farmer who was willing to go on camera and talk about it. Is it not illegal to grow . Yes, its not legal. How did he get away with growing hashish and talking about it . Since 2012, with the war in syria, our government hesitate to take the decision to send us and destroy the hashish. So you cant go and tackle these guys because of the war in syria and resources are elsewhere . Our ability is not enough, because most of the guys there have maybe weapons more than the police. When we went to this farm, the guy was kind of taking out all the weapons he has, boasting that the government can never touch him. If i have 100 soldiers, i can go and put him like a mouse, 0k . On the one hand, you have these kind of drug dealers and Hashish Farmers in the bekaa, who can get away with it and talk openly on tv about growing hashish, but then you have people who are small time consumers, who are scared to even talk about smoking it. How has it got to this point . Its a good question. Its really something to make ourselves very upset. We are interested to get the drugs dealerand put him injail for hundreds of years. We deal with addicts and drug users like sick people. One argument he would use is theres nothing else for him to farm but hashish. The government hasnt given him any support. He is a liar. They try to make that legal, because theyd benefit to make the hashish legal. Its war between the good guy and the bad guy. Would it not make society safer in a way, because you wouldnt need drug lords, the government could control hashish farming, you wouldnt need to lock people up . Yes, i cannot expect. One day that hashish will be legal in lebanon. Its clear that the war in syria has had a huge effect on the polices capability of stopping lebanons drug lords, but it doesnt mean they have stopped arresting people for smoking hashish. Sadek was sent to jail a few years ago over a hashish conviction. It was eventually overturned, but it changed his life for good. I was an able student, straight a, and my life got to a halt, because i was sent to prison forjust smoking. So what actually happened . They got me, i went to the station. They put me on a torture device, where they handcuff you, pass a stick here and youre upside down. I was 19 at the time. How long were you in prison for . I was in prison for a year and three months. Did they find hashish on you when you were aressted . There was no evidence. Did they arrest you because they said you were a drug dealer, basically . Yeah. Did you deal drugs . Not at all. Never. Like, i dont need to. What was the worst thing that happened to you in prison . I got knifed. It is a horrible place. You find killers. You find daesh. Block b was controlled by isis. The social destruction of it was the hardest part about the whole experience. When youre a guy who has been to prison. Some people say you are doing something illegal, so you deserve to go to prison. To me, its not illegal. What am i doing . Im smoking and im staying at home. But im never going to stop smoking in lebanon. Its crazy, though. Its almost ruined your life, got you kicked out of university, you got stabbed as a consequence, and youre still smoking hashish. It was the government. I dont blame hashish, i blame the government. Are you a criminal . Do you see yourself as a criminal . The government made me a criminal. Im not, for sure. Im a nice guy. Ijust smoke. Sadeks story shows just how serious the consequences can be from messing around with hash here. For a country with so much of it, could it ever be legal . During the countrys civil war, the industry generated hundreds of billions of dollars, and some have started to ask, why not now . A couple of years ago, the druze leader of lebanons Progressive Socialist Party made headlines after he tweeted, calling for the legalisation of cannabis. Some in the hash world got excited. I met with one of his Party Members to see if they still thought that way. He seemed very busy, so i had to be quick. So you want hashish to be legalised in lebanon . Yes. Do you see that as something that will actually happen . Its not easy. Do you want people to be able to smoke it on the streets freely . Or do you just want farmers to be able to grow it . If its legal to grow here and legal to farm, but illegal to smoke it, whats the point . Ok, all right. Thank you very much. It doesnt seem like marijuana is going to be legalised any time soon in lebanon. What does seem possible is a situation where growing it and even exporting it are legal, butjust smoking it could get you in big trouble. Some would say that is happening already. Do i just talk about something . 0k. Is he a Pablo Escobar who is like after season two or is he a Pablo Escobar in episode one or two, where hes still running for president . Nobody knows anything about him yet. What do you know about hashish . I dont know anything. Im innocent. She giggles. I dont know that much about hashish. What do you know about hashish . Not that i try, no. I know nothing. Good tomorrow will be another largely tried a with spells of sunshine around. It will be feeling quite fresh first thing. Clear skies from any areas on saturday. A bit of patchy cloud here and there but the temperatures are taking a tumble through this evening and overnight. Showers continuing across the north of scotla nd showers continuing across the north of scotland but elsewhere should be dry. Temperatures under clear skies will fall quickly. By sunday morning, five or 6 degrees in the north, seven or eight further south but a few degrees colder in the countryside. The London Marathon tomorrow, staying dry after a fresh start. Sunday morning, white cloudy across southern england, temperatures up to nine or ten degrees for the start of the marathon. Clear skies across Northern Ireland and wales. Cloudy skies with one or two showers in the far north west and a few showers in north and west in scotland but Eastern Scotland dry and bright. The cloud increases in the north with patchy rain across parts of scotland. Across the uk, looking dry with spells of sunshine, likely to remain dry for the London Marathon, just a small outshine chance of a shower. This frontal system is working its way in from the north, that will introduce cloud across much of the country. Then, i return to wintry showers and snowfall over the Higher Ground of scotland in particular. Chill in the north on monday. Further south, particular. Chill in the north on monday. Furthersouth, breezy with particular. Chill in the north on monday. Further south, breezy with a few outbreaks of rain. Mandated tuesday, a northerly airflow and cold flair will move in. A winds to refill on monday and tuesday with sleet and snow, showers over the Higher Ground, and sleet and snow, showers over the higherground, and a sleet and snow, showers over the Higher Ground, and a return to night time frost. Goodbye for now. Grim. The first weekend of campaigning in the general election, in the general election sees theresa may and Jeremy Corbyn clash on taxation. Both leaders promise if they win onjune 8th, their policies will be fair. The conservative party,