Post McKinsey Report, Lebanon Parliament To Study Regulated Cannabis

Here’s the  source for the news http://nna-leb.gov.lb/en/show-news/93393/Berri-tells-US-Ambassador-Parliament-about-to-study-cannabis-legalization-for-medical-use

Here’s Business Insider Australia’s take

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/lebanon-to-legalize-medical-marijuana-after-mckinsey-report-2018-7?r=US&IR=T

Lebanon wants a piece of the red-hot global cannabis market.

The Middle Eastern nation is preparing to legalise cannabis cultivation for medical use in an effort to boost its troubled economy, Lebanon’s House Speaker told US ambassador Elizabeth Richard on Tuesday, according to the country’s official news agency.

The move comes after a report from the consulting firm McKinsey & Company delivered to Lebanon’s government that evaluated a number of economic initiatives, including cannabis legalization. The firm was contracted by Lebanon in January to come up with a plan to revive the country’s economy.

Lebanon has suffered from skyrocketing unemployment and slow growth since 2011, when civil war broke out in neighbouring Syria, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Lebanon is also the world’s third-largest producer of illicit hashish – the psychoactive resin produced by cannabis plants – according to a 2016 study from United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. In the report delivered to the country’s government, McKinsey evaluated the economic impact of shifting Lebanon’s illicit market to a regulated market for medicinal use.

A McKinsey spokesperson clarified to Business Insider that the Lebanese government asked McKinsey to evaluate the impact of cannabis legalization as part of a suite of over 150 initiatives to boost the country’s economy. The McKinsey report did not explicitly recommend legalizing medical cannabis, the spokesperson said, though it did detail the positive economic benefits.

The country’s Trade Minister, Raed Khoury, said the quality of Lebanon’s cannabis is the “best in the world,” and predicted medical cannabis could become a billion-dollar industry, in an interview with Bloomberg earlier this month.

Read more at https://www.businessinsider.com/lebanon-to-legalize-medical-marijuana-after-mckinsey-report-2018-7#RGG0E34ZrPeJglvk.99

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