Legalisation of cannabis and general amnesty law

A few days from now, farmers start throwing their cannabis seeds in the vast planes of the Baalbeq-Hermel area known for its semi-arid continental climate, An Nahar newspaper wrote today. According to An Nahar, the majority of local farmers persists in cannabis cultivation, despite the fact that is illegal, because of the deteriorating living and economic conditions. The newspaper noted that authorities have halted the combating of cannabis since six years ago, thus giving the impression that it is implicitly tolerating it, while formal discussions proceeds on ways to legalise the growing of cannabis and its use for medicinal purposes. The newspaper also reports that total areas under cannabis cultivation continue to steadily expand and has exceeded 250,000 dunums last year. ِAn Nahar concludes that with the inclusion of general amnesty law in the program of the new government, farmers now strongly believe that the legalisation of cannabis will move in pair with progress of the amnesty law. (An Nahar, February 27, 2019)