Albanian police have slowly begun tightening a loop around the cannabis plots of villagers in the southern Albanian village of Lazarat, the enclave loyal to ruling Democratic Party. Villagers in Lazarat feel the party it backed all the way to return to power in July 2005 after eight years in opposition had "turned the gun" on them and it has been singled out as an example of the fight to eradicate cannabis from Albania's map. Spread up the lower part of a mountain near the Greek border, Lazarat made international headlines two years ago when villagers said they shot back in anger at an Italian helicopter photographing marihuana plots. No one was hurt. They believe they were victimized politically to divert attention from areas loyal to the then ruling Socialist Party which grew the crop undisturbed. Action by police now means no political cover will help those who break the law. The Democratic Party government promised it would wipe out Albania from the cannabis map and have been...