Harvested to make Ecstasy, Cambodia’s trees are felled one by one

International drug trade drives illicit safrole-oil factories deep in the Cardamom mountains.
By Sam Campbell — Special to GlobalPost

“Clandestine factories deep in the Cardamom Mountains of western Cambodia are producing safrole oil — also known as sassafras oil — the main ingredient in the party drug Ecstasy. There is a growing, and perhaps just as deadly, price being paid by the local environment. Trees containing the viscous, fragrant, safrole oil are felled during the manufacturing process. Their oil-rich roots are mechanically shredded and boiled in large cauldrons. The resulting mixture is then distilled over fires that require enormous quantities of firewood to fuel them. “

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/asia/090812/drugs-ecstasy-cambodia