Talal Shreif, mayor of the town of Yammouneh in the northern Bekaa, said that about 35,000 people in the region were being sought by the police for cannabis farming. What angers some people in the Bekaa is a feeling that they have little choice but to grow an illegal crop. The mayor, Shreif, raised the possibility that if legalized cannabis farming might be regulated in the same way as tobacco, with the government buying the crop at a set price. But in Bar Elias, a nearby town, farmers say they are struggling. He said he would grow cannabis instead if the government allowed it.

Source: Egypt Independent August 27, 2018 13:07 UTC