'Happy meal for adults': Lebanese Twitter erupts over legalising weed with hilarious 'hash-tag'

Lebanon's parliamentary speaker announced last week that cannabis could be legalised and people on Twitter couldn't contain their jokes.

Narrated

2 min read

The New Arab

22 Jul, 2018

A hashtag laughing about legalising cannabis in Lebanon went viral [Getty]

A hashtag in Lebanon went viral with hilarious responses to what would happen if cannabis was legalised in the country, after a leading official suggested medical marijuana could be legalised.

The discussion swooned Lebanese social media after parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri said on Thursday the government will review a proposal to legalise the growth and production of marijuana - for medicinal purposes - to help jump-start the economy.

Lebanon has the third highest debt rate in the world, standing at 150 percent of GDP.

The economic review by consulting firm McKinsey&Company looked at ways to revitalise growth in the country.

Among the suggestions submitted by the analysts to President Michel Aoun included a recommendation to legalise and regularise the production and sale of marijuana.

Berri told the US ambassador to Lebanon Elizabeth Richard that Lebanon could follow the firm's advice.

"Lebanon's parliament is preparing to study and adopt the necessary laws to legalise the growth and consumption of hash for medicinal purposes, like a number of European countries and some US states," said Berri.

Consuming, growing and selling marijuana are all illegal in Lebanon, but production in the eastern Bekaa Valley region is widespread, making it a multi-million-dollar industry.

But for some tweeters using the "if cannabis was legalised" hashtag, economic implications are the least their priorities:

Twitter Post