Taroudant, Morocco – After the Istiqlal party, one of the old conservative parties of the kingdom, proposed last year a draft law to decriminalize and regulate the cultivation of cannabis for medical and pharmaceutical uses, the country is re-examining policies toward cannabis and looking to some degree of legalization of this corp.
Despite a centuries-old tradition of growing cannabis in the Rif Mountains, and the raising voices to decriminalize the cultivation of the crop, the proposal may face fierce opposition.
The cannabis cultivation, which was legal in some regions of Rif until 1974, is deep-rooted in the regions of the north of Morocco, and farmers are growing cannabis regardless of the legal prosecutions.
Like many other farmers in the region, Abdelkhalek Benabdallah openly grows cannabis despite its illegal status in the kingdom. “We are regularly subject to blackmail by the gendarmes,” the farmer said as he prepared his September harvest, according to AP.
Last year, the Party of Modernity and Authenticity held an international debate, which involved national and international experts, under the theme “The role of positive uses of cannabis to create an alternative economy.”
During that event, Khadija Rouissi, MP from the PAM, said “If we legalize the cultivation of cannabis, trade will become more transparent and organized.”
According to United Nations estimations, about 80,000 families in the Rif Mountains are living from growing cannabis.
The latest report of the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) revealed that Morocco and Afghanistan are the world’s largest producers of hashish.
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