Jumblat in Joint Statement: Legalize Hash in Lebanon
The controversial and outspoken Druze leader Walid Jumblat called in a "joint statement" on Twitter Saturday for the cultivation of marijuana to be legalized.
"It's time to allow hash to be grown and to overturn arrest warrants against people sought for doing so," the veteran politician wrote in Arabic on his Twitter account.
The marijuana industry generated hundreds of millions of dollars during the country's 1975-1990 civil war.
Despite a law punishing drug trafficking with prison terms, villagers in the Bekaa valley in the east have little respect for the law and clans there grow marijuana openly and process it.
Jumblat, long famed for his blunt manner and role as Lebanon's kingmaker, became an instant must-follow after opening a Twitter account.
He is the most senior member of the country's Druze minority and has often been dubbed a "chameleon" or "weathervane" for his shifting political alliances.
Jumblat has used the social network to attack President Bashar Assad in neighboring Syria, berate Lebanese political leaders and mock the international community.
According to cannabis growers in Lebanon, the conflict in Syria has turned the state's attention away from the problem at home and boosted traffic with the border now less secure.
Farmers say demand has risen by more than 50 percent since 2012, the year after civil war erupted in Syria, with most of Lebanon's hashish going there.
over 9 years
He said in a "joint" statement, no less. ;)
over 9 years
Also forgot to mention the part where he said, "I never smoked a joint in my life" lmaooooooooo
over 9 years
we in a joint statement agree with you @defacto
over 9 years
Make it happen. Tourism will EXPLODE (only figuratively, I hope) and the overcrowding of prisons will decrease, not to mention the efforts of our police force can be freed to a degree and reallocated for things worth their time. It would also lead to calmer people and more money being made legally/+taxed businesses&incomes.
over 9 years
Jomby knows what he is talking about.....since a long time...
over 9 years
is there anything that jumblatt says or does that you don't agree with?
over 9 years
Very good initiative. Hash is being sold whether we like it or not. Why not capitalize on it, since Lebanese Hash is one of the world best.
over 9 years
Gives 'Joint Statement' a different Buzz.
over 9 years
Jumblat in Joint Statement: Legalize Hash in Lebanon = Brilliant title for the article lol.
over 9 years
Should have been: "Blunt-Talking Jumblat in Joint Statement from Reef el Beqaa"...
over 9 years
Also in joint statement comedians Cheech and Chong, and Dave, announced they will run in the next Lebanese parliamentary elections on the Democratic Gathering bloc ticket.
over 9 years
Well, it certainly can't get worse...
I myself am voting for Ali G..
over 9 years
Next thing Jumblat will declare is to legalize gay marriage in Lebanon. Jumblat wants to be seen as being part of the modern world, yet how many times was he caught in Hamra street totally stoned? Next thing will be Aoun who'll feel that he must upstage the Druze clown.
over 9 years
This is not a question of modernity or being politically appealing to the "modern" generation. It is a question of not forcing those who are naturally attracted to members of the same sex to go against nature and be forced to copulate with people they are physically indifferent to or repelled from; either that or die alone. A question of all people being treated equally and without prejudice based on religion, race, gender or sexual preference.
over 9 years
And don't worry about Aoun feeling like he needs to one-up Jumblat in that regard - Aoun has been consistently anti-liberal; he'll probably retort by insisting that all potheads should be shot on the spot and that their murderers would have been committing an "honour crime" which is 7alal, and therefore not need to face responsibility for their vile actions (and by extension, that nobody needs to face responsibility for the vile action of dereliction of duty while in a position of authority and abandoning their men to their death while the person himself runs away - after all, Aoun has also been consistent about only caring about himself, and then spinning his selfish actions like if he did it for the greater good of the general public).
over 9 years
What do you mean "black" market? It's either Redmarket (Deir el A7mar), or Yellowmarket (Yamouneh), or Greenmarket (the rest). Black is from Afghanistan. Where is your patriotism ya Jacks?
over 9 years
Considering that before the 1920s Hash - "The Herb Dangerous", as Baudelaire and Crowley used to call it - was perfectly common in the Middle East, and that it wasn't until the U.S. tried to assert its "soft" power across the world by linking U.S. financial aid to any country's forcing a prohibition on the green; now that the U.S. itself has repented of the ways of its less enlightened ancestors (Colorado, Washington State, Maine, Alaska, Oregon, and the District of Columbia have legalized it; 23 other states have it decriminalized - i.e., you don't go to maghfar 7beish and then sit in Roumieh for six months without being charged before being released without a trial if you're caught carrying less than 25 grams of the stuff), I don't see why we should still be following those idiotic laws.
Legalize it, tax it, and use the money to fix the bloody roads and drainage systems.
over 9 years
Doobie or not doobie, that is the question.
over 9 years
Yaaa mon!!! I can agree to this. However too many mafia leaders in leb profiting off its illegality, and the police uses it as an excuse to arrest the youth
Jumblat, long famed for his blunt manner and role as Lebanon's kingmaker
Loooooool blunt matter, good diction ya Naharnet