In Lebanon, the absence of the state is reflected in many ways, and cannabis cultivation is the most absurd and scandalous of them all. It is alarming, yet ridiculous. Each year, with the beginning of summer, the Lebanese state, without fail, demonstrates the inefficiency and corruption of its institutions. This summer is no exception. In the distant plains were the cannabis crops are thriving, a familiar farce is set to play out once more.
Cannabis has been a “prohibited crop” since the 1930s. With the establishment of the Lebanese state centered around the capital, Beirut, “remote and deprived areas” emerged independently. The regions of the northern Bekaa were designated as such for a number of reasons.