Limassol

Law Enforcement

The police stories in Limassol were intimidating. People talked about getting roughed up, about women being let off more easily, and about locals having a much worse time than tourists. I heard of a joint leading to three or four days in custody and of dealing leading to jail. There was plenty of confident talk about what police could do without finding anything, including whether they could force a blood or urine test. I wouldn’t rely on it.

Where to Buy Marijuana

“If you’re a tourist, you’re f**ked!” was about how I felt. I worried about street weed being laced. Even expensive liquor seemed cheaper than a bad deal. The good stuff I came across was through locals I trusted, including well-off smokers in their mid-twenties to mid-thirties who mostly kept it quiet.

In the same circles I heard about mushrooms brought in from Holland.

Marijuana Prices

With the main port here, Limassol had a reputation as Cyprus’s drug capital. The prices I saw were lower than in other cities. These were in pounds:

• One report: £10–15 per gram, or £50 for seven to eight grams.
• Another: £50 for three to five grams.
• A reported quarter-ounce: £70–100.
• A reported ounce: £280–350.

People used ounce fractions loosely: a quarter could be 6.4 or 7 grams and a so-called ounce anywhere from 25 to 29 grams.

Types of Marijuana

White Widow and other Amsterdam varieties turned up. Hash was rare, though the stuff said to come from Lebanon was usually good. Local or Albanian weed could go for around 200 pounds an ounce. Finding anything better depended on who you knew.

Some of the skunk I saw was wet and smelled wrong. I suspected it was laced and passed on it. There was also casual talk about bringing weed in your luggage. Taking cannabis through an airport is a much bigger gamble than that talk made it sound.