By Benjie Cooper
IG: @nuglifenews
YouTube: Lucid’s Vlog
According to Speaker Nabih Beri on Wednesday, July 18, the Lebanese parliament is looking into the possibility of allowing medical marijuana cultivation to help aid the country’s struggling economy.
As a result of regional conflicts, the West Asian country has endured an anemic economic growth rate since 2011 with a low 1-1.5 percent in 2017 and 2018.
Cannabis cultivation is illegal in Lebanon, but despite crackdown efforts by law enforcement, influential landowners in the country manage to grow large plots of marijuana in the Bekka Valley. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the country’s hashish production ranks third in the world under Afghanistan and Morocco.
But the laws of the land may soon change as lawmakers begin researching the possibility of allowing legal medical cannabis cultivation.
“The Lebanese Parliament,” reported Berri’s office. “Is preparing to study and adopt the legislation necessary to legislate the cultivation of cannabis and its manufacture for medical uses in the manner of many European countries and some U.S. states.”
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is calling for fiscal adjustments to help sustain the republic’s debt which was at 150% over GDP in 2017. In efforts to help improve the economy, Lebanon hired a consulting firm to formulate a plan to aid the country in productivity.
In the report created by the firm, one of the plans laid out involved the implementation of a cannabis cultivation and export program. The report, which was made by the McKinsey consulting firm, is currently under government review and has not been made public as of yet.
