Lebanon becomes the first Arab country to legalise cannabis farming in a bid to beat economic crisis.
Lebanon has become the first Arab country to legalise cannabis farming for medical and industrial purposes – a move that could generate lucrative exports and foreign currency as the country struggles to cope with a financial crisis.
Although growing the plant was previously illegal, cannabis has long been farmed openly in the fertile and impoverished Bekaa Valley. According to the United Nations, the country is the world’s third-largest supplier of cannabis resin after Morocco and Afghanistan.
The new law, which was passed on Tuesday, will regulate the already existing cultivation efforts and help stem unlawful production of the plant, with all recreational production and use remaining illegal.
The legislation aims to build a multimillion-dollar industry that could generate products ranging from textiles to pharmaceuticals, and even such items as cannabidiol (CBD) oil, Lebanon’s The Daily Star reported.
Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shia paramilitary and political group that controls swathes of the Bekaa Valley, was one of the only parties to oppose the legislation. Lawmakers who supported the bill defended their decision, saying it was “driven by economic motives – nothing else”.
“We have moral and social reservations, but today there is the need to help the economy by any means,” said Alain Aoun, a senior MP in the Free Patriotic Movement.
The idea of legalising cannabis cultivation to produce high value-added medicinal products for export was explored in a report that was commissioned by the Lebanese government in 2018. It's estimated that the industry could generate as much as $1 billion annually.
This goes to show that people all over the world are changing their perspectives on cannabis.
Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/lebanon-cannabis-legalisation-farming-medical-use-economy-a9477996.html