Lebanon’s Pot Farmers Gear Up For A Fight With Islamic State -- Washington Post
The cultivation of marijuana is illegal in Lebanon, but that doesn't mean people don't grow it. The industry boomed during the country's lengthy civil war, earning millions for the impoverished yet fertile Bekaa Valley province, and Lebanese authorities have struggled to control it ever since. In 2012, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime listed Lebanon as one of the five "main countries producing cannabis resin," yielding an amount similar to Pakistan's production.
Political instability in Lebanon has often led to boom times for pot farmers. "The worse the security situation is in Lebanon, the more we can grow," one farmer told the Christian Science Monitor in 2007. As such, the chaos in neighboring Syria appears to have been a boon for the farmers, with troops diverted to the border and annual cannabis-eradication drives skipped.
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My Comment: Drugs has always been a big business in Lebanon. There will be blow-back against the Islamic State should they move in. The above video shows the burning of a marijuana field in Syria by Islamic State fighters.
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