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 Cannabis is cultivated openly, but illegally, in parts of Lebanon,
especially the Bekaa Valley where a Roman temple in the ancient city
of Baalbek bears an engraving of a cannabis leaf. Today, Lebanon is
third after only Morocco and Afghanistan as global supplier of
cannabis resin, U.N. figures show.
While Lebanese cannabis might be prized by smokers of the narcotic,
little is known of its medicinal value, something that Professor
Mohammad Mroueh, who believes the plant's local strain might prove
particularly beneficial, hopes to change.
The government has permitted Mroueh's research, but has not yet
formally approved the establishment of his Medicinal Cannabis
Research Center, which opened in May and aims to join the ranks of
10 institutions worldwide studying the drug.
Mroueh is examining the medicinal properties of the local cannabis
which is a hybrid between two strains: Indica and Sativa.
"My impression is that it will have a different medical value
because of the climatic conditions in the Bekaa Valley especially if
you're talking about the amount of the rainfall, sunlight and type
of soil," said Mroueh at the Byblos campus of the Lebanese American
University where the center is based.
"It is a beginning of the road for us. We haven't even determined
the genotype of the plant. We have to start from zero," he said,
adding that he expected to find different percentages of the active
chemicals that may help in treatments of cancer, epilepsy, diabetes
and other diseases.
MEDICINAL PLANTS
In the laboratory, Dr. Wassim Shebaby, one of Mroueh's research
partners, injects pink-stained leukemic cells with different
concentrations of cannabis oil as a group of students huddles behind
him watching.
"We are studying the effect of cannabis oil on (cancer) cell growth
... This is the first time this has been done (in Lebanon)," Shebaby
said.
The laboratory tests on cancer cells from local patients is the
first step before the team is able to expand to clinical trials and
economic impact studies.
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The project began in 2015 when two graduate students approached
Mroueh to supervise a thesis about the plant. It took him three
years to convince the university's board as well as the ministry of
health and the drug enforcement agency.
The center still needs final approval from a new government, but the
country has been unable to form one since elections in May due to
political squabbling over positions.
The government has indicated it is considering legalizing cannabis
for medicinal use after a consulting firm it hired to advise on how
to reform the economy touted it as a money-maker.
Mroueh expects hurdles but hopes the government will quickly approve
the use of cannabis in palliative care.
The professor often stops by the side of the road to pick up
seasonal medicinal plants he believes are unique to Lebanon, and
villagers regularly call seeking advice on treatments.
When they call to ask about using cannabis to alleviate pain, Mroueh
says he does not know what to tell them.
"It is still a sensitive subject and you can't talk about it freely.
Unfortunately, it makes me feel helpless," he said.
"It is a humanitarian and moral issue. Why should a cancer patient
die in pain?"
(Reporting by Ayat Basma; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
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