LEBANESE CANNABIS FARMERS

LEBANESE Cannabis farmers hope legalisation may bring amnesty.

The contrast between the vibrant green of a cannabis field and the arid land nearby on Lebanon's  Bekaa valley has for years raised a dilemma for the area's impoverished farmers.

Cannabis is hardier, less thirsty and cheaper to grow than the region's other main crops like  apples and potatoes, but it is also illegal - for now.

Parliament will consider legalizing its growth for medicinal use, the speaker said last month, but in the Bekaa, some people are unconvinced there will be a meaningful change.

''It is like giving a dog a bone because people are hungry and can't bear it any more,'' said cannabis farmer  Abu Mohammad, 52.

''But whether they legalize it or not, the most important thing is to give an amnesty,'' he said, echoing a common complaint in the region.

Farmers face prison term of  five years, he said.

Tala 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. [Agencies].