The Lebanese parliament voted to legalize the cultivation of cannabis for medical and industrial use making Lebanon the first Arab country to do so.
The law regarding the infamous plant, which has a great variety of uses such as pharmaceutical, wellness and textile products, passed last April.
The conversation toward legitimizing the farming of cannabis was growing for years in the Mediterranean country, but was pushed in the forefront recently, because of the current economic crisis.
Lebanon suffers from the worst financial and economic disaster in its history, which some officials believe cannabis can help relieve.
Alain Aoun, a senior MP in the Free Patriotic Movement told Reuters “we have moral and social reservations but today there is the need to help the economy by any means”.
According to a report by Ameri Research Inc., the global legal cannabis market was valued at $14.3 billion in 2016 and is forecast to grow to $63.5 billion by 2024.
The market is witnessing an expansional growth mainly due to the legalization and decriminalization of cannabis products worldwide.
