Walid Joumblatt, one of the most powerful politicians in Lebanon, recently dropped the bombshell that he supports the legalization of cannabis or marijuana in the country, which has long been grown here illegally. Joumblatt actually called for this twice this year and the current agriculture minister–who also hails from his party– recently announced that cannabis cultivation would boost state revenues and said his ministry was launching “studies on how to organize this type of agriculture.”
Then yesterday, the UK ambassador to Lebanon sent Joumblatt a tweet joking about his “legalization effort” and Joumblatt replied by discussing the possibility of growing the herb at his home. A Lebanese MMA fighter even weighed in on the debate, promising to move back to Lebanon if this happened. Read this insane thread below:
All this comes on the heels of the interior ministry offering free taxi rides to drunk drivers on New Year’s Eve. Has Lebanon suddenly become more liberal/progressive than many Western countries? Although it should be remembered that countries like the United States have seen cannabis be legalized meaning Americans in some states can buy cbd gummies and other cannabis products with ease, with great reward ensuing. A generation of entrepreneurs has evoked sustained debate that society should be moving towards complete legalization of the substance. The whole scale of operations is very much in the essence of traditional business. The supply chain is filled by dispensary supplies coming in many different forms and a wide range of incredible shops. So it may well be possible that Lebanon is going to be moving in this direction too. This is sure to cause great debate and arguably inflict large scale debate. So, what are they smoking in Parliament these days??