Lebanon has legalized cannabis cultivation for medical purposes, according to a Reuters report.

Parliament passed the law April 21, eyeing medical cannabis as a potentially lucrative export for Lebanon’s economy, which is facing an impending financial crisis, the news outlet reported.

Cannabis cultivation of any kind was previously illegal, although many have farmed the plant in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, according to Reuters.

Alain Aoun, a senior MP in the Free Patriotic Movement, told the news outlet that Parliament’s decision to legalize medical cannabis cultivation was driven purely by economic factors.

“We have moral and social reservations but today there is the need to help the economy by any means,” he said.