Ariel, smoker without borders, is our special envoy to Lebanon. There, he takes a closer look at the various aspects of cannabis in one of the world’s leading hashish-producing countries.
In July 2018, the head of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berry announced the prospect of a law legalizing the cultivation and use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes. This would involve setting up a régie to direct the entire process of hashish cultivation. Provide licenses to farmers and exercise firm control over production, processing and purchasing.
What motivates Nabih Berry’s bill, more than the therapeutic benefits of cannabis, is to help farmers in the Bekaa out of their precarious situation, with projected revenues of $2 billion a year within a few years. The law would also cancel arrest warrants against individuals wanted by the authorities in this area. And Nabih Berry is not alone. The leader of the Druze community, Walid Joumblatt, has been calling for many years, even from his Twitter account, insisting on Lebanon’s ideal agricultural conditions for hashish, as well as on the ancestral experience of the Bekaa’s farmers (read our article on the Bekka plain, just here)
For the law to pass,” maintains Hassan Makhlouf, a university researcher and expert on the issue, “it must be approved by all Lebanese political parties, i.e. everyone must find a way to benefit from it. Even Hezbollah, traditionally opposed to legalization, since it currently has almost complete control over production and illicit trade, has said it will not veto the bill.
Ariel.
