Cannabis legalization: the seed of a good idea or a pipedream?

Crop substitution programs have failed
The Daily Star (Lebanon)
Friday, May 30, 2014

According to Jalal Mahfouz, head of the Planning and Development Center in Hermel (Lebanon), any move to legalize the illegal industry, which is believed to be worth millions of dollars, would backfire by reducing prices and demand. He argued that hashish was currently expensive because it was illegal, and that if that changed the plant’s value would plummet. He also cast doubt on the idea that the government would be able to enforce any such law – even if supportive of the industry – given its near total absence from the remote area. (Text version)