Lebanon
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| Lebanon | |
|---|---|
| لبنان (Lubnān) | |
| |
| A hill town in the Lebanese mountains | |
| Capital | Beirut |
| Continent | Asia |
| Subregion | West Asia |
| Cannabis Status | |
| Legal Status | Illegal (medical and industrial cultivation licensed) |
| Status Since | 2020 |
| Enforcement | Criminal outside licensed medical and industrial cultivation |
| Documentation | |
| Growing Regions | 0 |
| Growing Areas | 1 |
| Accessions | 2 |
| Conservation | |
| Populations | none documented yet |
Lebanon is a country in West Asia on the eastern Mediterranean. The Real Seed Company writes that Lebanon has a long tradition of producing hashish and sources its Lebanese line from the Bekaa Valley, behind the coastal mountains.[1]
In 2020 Lebanon became the first Arab state to permit cannabis cultivation, when parliament approved Law No. 178 on 21 April. It was published in the Official Gazette on 4 June, authorising cultivation for medical and industrial purposes.[2][verification needed]
The law created licensing bodies but did not amend the drug legislation beneath it. In 2023 cannabis was still scheduled as a very dangerous substance with no medical use under Law 673 of 1998; Law 178 gives no express right to consume medicinal cannabis.[3]
The Real Seed Company sells a line from the 2008 harvest in the Bekaa; ACE Seeds sells a fourth-generation stock of its own.[1][4]
Geography
Lebanon is a narrow country of two parallel mountain ranges with the Bekaa Valley between them.[citation needed] The Real Seed Company sources its line from the Bekaa at about 34° N and states that the line originates in one of the most renowned mountain regions above the valley, where, it says, the finest Lebanese hashish has been produced.[1]
Demographics
Agriculture
Cannabis in Lebanon
History
The Real Seed Company writes that the Bekaa has been a major centre of commercial hashish production for export since the early 20th century.[5] A. Ahmed El Hadka, writing in the UN Bulletin on Narcotics in 1965, names Syria, Lebanon and Greece as major sources of supply for Egypt from 1926, when hashish began to enter it in enormous quantities, especially from Syria and Lebanon.[6] The Transnational Institute writes that the Egyptian ban on cannabis affected the whole eastern Mediterranean and that Lebanon was among the countries, with Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Sudan, Syria and Palestine, asked to help Egypt's law enforcement authorities by restricting cultivation and trade.[7]: 11
Cultivation
The Real Seed Company describes its line as collected at source in the valley from the 2008 harvest and grown for sieved hashish.[1]
The Real Seed Company files the line in its Near East category, which it describes as a distinct zone for drug-type landraces whose plants are close to the classic Indica but much earlier maturing, with harvest often beginning as early as mid-August.[8]
Varieties and genetics
Preparations and consumption
Trade and commerce
Legal status
Cannabis cultivation for medical and industrial purposes is lawful under licence; everything else remains criminal.
Law No. 178 was approved by parliament on 21 April 2020 and published in the Official Gazette on 4 June 2020, making Lebanon the first Arab state to permit the cultivation of cannabis. It authorises cultivation for products including industrial fibre, cosmetics, oils, extracts and medical and pharmaceutical compounds, then establishes two bodies to license growers and manufacturers.[2][verification needed]
The law gives no express right to consume medicinal cannabis and leaves the existing drug legislation unamended, so in 2023 cannabis was still scheduled as a very dangerous substance with no medical use under Law 673 of 1998.[3] The Council of Ministers formed the Cannabis Regulatory Authority, which is to license cultivation, on 17 July 2025, five years after the law was passed.[9][10] In February 2026 its head, Dany Fadel, said the timeline was too tight for a first harvest that year.[10]
Growing Regions
No growing regions documented yet.
Growing Areas
| Growing Area | Has growing region |
|---|---|
| Beqaa Valley |
Accessions
| Accession ID | Name | Collected | Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACE-LBN-UNK-0120180001 | Lebanese Reproduction 2018 | ||
| RSC-LBN-UNK-0120080001 | Lebanese Reproduction 2008 | Beqaa Valley |
Conservation status
Recent news
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Lebanese". The Real Seed Company. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Law No. 178/2020: Permitting the Cultivation of Cannabis Plants for Medical and Industrial Use". Lexis Middle East. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Skoun Lebanese Addiction Centre (10 May 2023). The legalization of the cultivation of cannabis in Lebanon: moralistic views vs the right to health (Report). International Drug Policy Consortium.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Lebanese". ACE Seeds. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ "Lebanese". The Real Seed Company. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2026.
- ↑ El Hadka, A. Ahmed (1965). "Forty years of the campaign against narcotic drugs in the United Arab Republic". Bulletin on Narcotics (4). United Nations: 1–12.
- ↑ Bewley-Taylor, Dave; Blickman, Tom; Jelsma, Martin (March 2014). "The history of cannabis in the international drug control system" (PDF). The Rise and Decline of Cannabis Prohibition: The history of cannabis in the UN drug control system and options for reform (Report). Amsterdam; Swansea: Transnational Institute; Global Drug Policy Observatory.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Near East". The Real Seed Company. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ "LAU welcomes the appointment of Dr. Mohammad Mroueh as a Member of the Cannabis Regulatory Authority" (Press release). Lebanese American University. 30 July 2025. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Hage Boutros, Philippe (10 February 2026). "Why is Lebanon still behind on regulating medicinal cannabis?". L'Orient Today. Retrieved 3 October 2026.