The Jordanian government is reportedly considering the possibility of allowing the cultivation of tobacco for commercial use in the Kingdom, according to Al Ghad newspaper, who cited an informed source at the Ministry of Health.

The same source, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the government has recently formed an official committee, consisting of the Ministries of Health, Agriculture and Trade & Industry, and other organizations, to carry out a feasibility study on the matter.

“Cultivating tobacco will be carried out in coordination with or through independent companies, while the government will determine the size of the area that’s allowed to be planted, where it will be located, how much will be exported and which countries it will be exported to,” the source explained.

A source at the Ministry of Agriculture told Al Rai newspaper in July that cultivating tobacco has been banned in the Kingdom for the past ten years, with the exception of plating it in small quantities for personal, not commercial, use.

According to the same source, cultivating tobacco “exhausts the land and soil it is planted on and consumes large amounts of water, while the plant itself is prone to carrying viruses and spreading them to other cops.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture said that it was not authorized to issue permits for the cultivation of tobacco, noting that only the government has that authority.