Une nouvelle approche juste des drogues nécessite de reconsidérer et de subvertir l'héritage colonial et impérialiste du contrôle des drogues dans le pays. Pour en savoir plus, en anglais, veuillez lire les informations ci-dessous.

How we think about, regulate, moralise or criminalise drugs is often not a response to domestic considerations, but a negotiation with global forces in an uneven international environment. Drug control in Lebanon is no exception to this rule. Its policies, since their inception, are the result of colonial and neo-colonial impositions and local resistance to these international impositions.

The colonial roots of drug policies are clear in Lebanon. The first drug control imperatives were introduced under the French mandate in the 1920s. In fact, the 1922 

 of the League of Nations that put Lebanon and Syria under French rule specifically mentions in article 12 that France will adhere, on behalf of the countries under its mandate, to conventions related to “drug trafficking” among other things.

The imposition of prohibitionist policies had to contend with the reality that 

 of Lebanon’s economy was reliant on cannabis. As a result of the decline of the silk industry in the early 20th century, many farmers resorted to cannabis cultivation, which had been part of the Lebanese agricultural landscape for centuries. French authorities were 

 by local politicians for prohibiting cannabis cultivation, which was a source of income for the villagers. Lacking power in the rural areas, and unwilling to alienate powerful landowners whose support they relied on, the French authorities resorted to a “

” implementation of drug policies, aimed at satisfying international requirements without ostracising domestic political forces.

The intersection of colonial impositions with local negotiations, resulting in performative drug control policies, would become the 

After its independence, Lebanon continued the French charade. After declaring that it would take drastic measures to curb hashish production during WWII, members of the British Security Mission who assisted Lebanese authorities 

 that they had to apply “considerable direct pressure . . . on a reluctant Gendarmerie” to get any action done.

L'héritage colonial du contrôle des drogues au Liban

Michelle Wazan is the Drug Policy and Advocacy Department Manager at Skoun, Lebanese Addictions Center. She holds degrees in political science and international law and has been advocating for drug policy reform in Lebanon for the past four years.

Michelle Wazan es la Directora del Departamento de Política de Drogas y Promoción de Skoun, Centro Libanés de Adicciones. Es licenciada en ciencias políticas y derecho internacional y lleva cuatro años abogando por la reforma de la política de drogas en el Líbano.

Michelle Wazan est responsable du département de la politique des drogues et du plaidoyer à Skoun, le centre libanais des toxicomanies. Diplômée en sciences politiques et en droit international, elle milite depuis quatre ans pour une réforme de la politique en matière de drogues au Liban.

Michelle Wazan

Moyen-Orient et Afrique du Nord (Skoun)

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L'héritage colonial du contrôle des drogues au Liban