Charbel: Fate of Cannabis Farmers Lies in Hands of Ministerial Committee
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
A ministerial committee set up to resolve the problem of cannabis farmers in the eastern Bekaa valley will hold its first meeting on Tuesday, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said.
Charbel told An Nahar daily that a solution to the cannabis fields mainly in Bekaa’s north is now in the hands of the committee that will discuss a development plan for the Baalbek-Hermel area during its meeting under Prime Minister Najib Miqati at the Grand Serail.
“It’s important to resolve this problem so that it doesn’t occur each year and it’s necessary to come up with a final result that would benefit the owners of the lands that have received promises in vain in the past 43 years for the state to help them,” he said.
The cabinet approved the formation of the committee during a session it held at the summer residence of President Michel Suleiman in Beiteddine following several hours of deliberations.
Acting Information Minister Wael Abou Faour said after the session that the committee’s task will be to make practical proposals to address underdevelopment in the Baalbek-Hermel area within a month.
But the government’s decision fell short of expectations to give financial compensations to the cannabis farmers who held a protest over the weekend in the Bekaa town of al-Yammouneh against the Internal Security Forces for destroying their fields.
Charbel visited the town on Sunday and promised to resolve their case in return for the end of the sit-in.
The eradication of the crops has also led to gunbattles between the farmers and the ISF.
By Friday, the ISF had destroyed 6,615 dunums of fields in the Bekaa.
07 August 2012, 08:55
01
Destroy cannabis and plant opium, it's more lucrative for the thugs and criminals of the Hizb!
07 August 2012, 09:13
15
Ridiculous... what a waist of time and energy... just throw them in jail!
07 August 2012, 09:14
14
Our Inferior minister seeks to compensate hezb little hands...
07 August 2012, 11:21
21
The government should look after the interests of the Lebanese farmer. In the absence of proper backing, subsidies, etc, the farmers have no choice but to turn to cannabis crops. "throw them in jail", "imagine this in a civilized country". Really? should our farmers starve to death because we live in a country where the government shies away from all its responsabilities? in a civilized country the cultivation of cannabis crops for medicinal purposes is legal, export opportunities to amsterdam should also be considered, perhaps even the setting up of a legal cannabis zone in lebanon such as amsterdam... The cannabis crops must be under the full control of the government, or they must provide a viable alternative to the lebanese farmer... not every lebanese has the ability to be in real estate development and live the high life...
07 August 2012, 15:39
00
Actually in a lot of civilized countries cannabis or (medical) marijuana is legalized - see Netherlands, Canada, California....why spend this energy destroying a harmless soft drug
07 August 2012, 16:21
00
Agree to some extent, Nostradamus. Yes, the government certainly shies away from its civic responsibilities, and yes, the farmers need to work and feed their families. Perhaps instead of only looking to the legalization of cannabis, they could look to different models from South America and southeast Asia where governments look to replace drug crops with more productive, fiscally and morally responsible, and environmentally friendly uses of the land. I completely understand that the government's role in helping this transition is long-term one, and one that requires governmental interest and political cooperation. Since none of that seems to be an option in the present (or near long term if we are honest), you are absolutely correct: they need to fully regulate these crops or provide a short term solution (such as subsidizing food production).
