Lebanon is the first Arab country to legalize medical marijuana

Lebanon became the first Arab nation to legalize cannabis for medical and industrial purposes after a parliamentary vote on Tuesday, which could provide a much-needed financial boost to the country’s economy.

Cannabis has long been grown illegally in the nation’s Bekaa Valley, and since Lebanon was ranked among the top three largest cannabis growers in the Middle East by the United Nations, along with Afghanistan and Morocco, economists have estimated that a medical marijuana industry could bring in as much as $1 billion in annual revenue.

The legislation will also encourage the crop to be used for new industries such as textile fiber production, pharmaceutical development, and the production of consumer products, such as CBD oil.

Lebanon had already suffered from dramatic inflation rates and a sharp rise in unemployment even before the new coronavirus outbreaks. Now, financial and political experts are hoping that the new birth of a thriving medical marijuana industry could help revive the nation’s struggling economy in the near future.