Lebanon set to legalise medical, industrial cannabis cultivation
Critics say draft law fails to address criminalisation of drug use
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Lebanon's parliament is set to vote on a law that would legalise the cultivation of cannabis for medical and industrial use in an effort to boost its crippled economy and curb illicit production of the psychoactive plant. The draft law, which has been endorsed by parliamentary committees and is now headed for a final vote, would only affect cannabis that contains less than one percent of the psychoactive compound tetrahydrocannabidinol, or THC. Lebanon has cultivated the plant for at least 100 years and produces large amounts of hashish. Though illegal to produce, sell or use, it is widely available locally and is also illegally exported. Instead of dealing with that market, this bill would seek to create a new one involving types of cannabis plants that have not traditionally been cultivated in Lebanon.
