Morocco: nearly 5,000 cannabis farming convicts pardoned
In a continued streak of clemency, Moroccan King Mohammed VI has pardoned nearly 5,000 people convicted or wanted on charges linked to the illegal cultivation of cannabis according to an announcement by the Justice Ministry released on August 19th, reported Reuters and agencies.
Cannabis production is a booming industry in Morocco as the North African nation legalised the hallucinogenic for medical, pharmaceutical and industrial uses in 2021. However, the law does not allow cannabis to be used for recreational purposes.
The Moroccan Federation of Pharmaceutical Industry and Innovation (FMIIP) suggested that the market value could be around €400 to €600 million in the next four years.
The king’s pardon is expected to spur farmers “to engage in the legal process of cannabis cultivation to improve their revenue and living conditions,” said Mohammed El Guerrouj, head of Morocco’s cannabis regulator ANRAC, to Reuters.
READ: Morocco: To legalise, or not to legalise cannabis
According to official figures, Morocco’s first legal cannabis harvest weighed 294 metric tons in 2023. Since then, legal exports of the products have stood at 225 kilograms, stated Guerrouj.
The size of the harvest is expected to rise this year with the number of farming permits increasing and ANRAC allowing the cultivation of a local strain known as Beldia which is known for its drought-resistant quality, a valuable trait amidst record temperatures in the Maghreb.
Cannabis farming is the main economic activity for nearly a million people living in the northern areas of Morocco. Generations of locals have grown cannabis and smoked it, usually mixing the marijuana with tobacco in traditional long-stemmed pipes with clay bowls.
The impetus for legalising the drug in 2021 was to improve farmer’s income whilst clamping down on drug traffickers who dominate the cannabis trade and illegally export it.
Morocco was awarded 54 export permits last year and is seeking to access the rising global demand for legal cannabis.
Reuters and agencies
