by Andrew Arnett

Hanoi, VIETNAM — If you walk down the streets of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) today, you’d be hard pressed to find evidence of the communist’s victory over capitalist South Vietnam 40 years ago. Symbols of capitalism line Nguyễn Huệ Boulevard including the Apple Store, Starbucks, Polo Ralph Lauren and Carls Jr.

Skyscrapers loom over the horizon and there’s gambling in large casino hotels like the lavish newly renovated Vegas style Rex Hotel.

There are other similarities which the modern day metropolis shares with its former capitalist incarnation, including easy access to psychoactive drugs.

“You can walk up to any cigarette vendor in the street and they will offer you marijuana,” Nguyen Thanh Tuan, a reporter for TUOI TRE NEWS tells us.

“It is not legal, but the authorities generally look the other way. Penalties for weed usually consist of a light fine.”

“Go down to Pham Ngu Lao, the back packers area,” he says, “and you will find vendors on every street corner.”

The Stoned Society visited Pham Ngu Lao to investigate the scene. We found an area stretching upwards to a kilometer long bustling with cheap hotels, bars, nightclubs and restaurants. Patrons sat on plastic seats lining the sidewalks, drinking cocktails out in the open air. Vietnamese and foreigners of every nationality filled the densely packed streets.

Half of all cigarette vendors we approached without introduction had marijuana for sale when asked for cỏ (grass) at 100,000 đồng ($5US) for an amount the size of a dime bag.

Prior to the arrival of the Americans and the initiation of the Vietnam War, drug laws in Vietnam were ill defined and had little priority in its criminal justice system.

As a result, marijuana could be purchased openly in Saigon. A survey conducted in 1966 by the U.S. military identified 29 fixed outlets in the city selling pot.

To read more “Marijuana in Vietnam” by Andrew Arnett click here.