Moroccan Opposition Party, PAM, Wants Public Agency to Sell Cannabis

Rabat – Morocco’s Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) called for the establishment of a public agency for the sale of cannabis. Leaders of the PAM at the House of Councilors introduced a bill to create a “national agency for the culture of cannabis,” according to Yabiladi news website.

The agency should be in charge of selling cannabis in its crop state to industrial and pharmaceutical companies.

According to the same source, the import of cannabis seeds and its distribution to farmers would also fall under the responsibility of the proposed agency. The PAM said that the agency should be under the authority of the Moroccan government, but also have financial independence.

The Board of Directors heading the “national agency for the culture of cannabis” should be composed of members of several governmental ministries, national security, MP’s, regional representatives, and appointed officials.

The PAM proposed the agency to be led by the Ministries of Agriculture, Health, and Higher Education, as well as the General Directorate of National Security, the Royal Gendarmerie, Parliament Members of both Houses, local marijuana farmers, and three individuals appointed by the Head of Government.

The Authenticity and Modernity Party has previously expressed its support for the legalization of cannabis in the country. In a hearing organized by the PAM in 2013 to examine the financial exploitation of hashish growth, its members said that legalizing farming would help smallholders, since nearly one million Moroccans depend on the plant’s cultivation.

“We are not seeking to legalize the production of drugs, but to search for possible medical and industrial uses of this plant and create an alternative economy in the region,” Milouda Hazib, head of the party’s parliamentary delegation, said at the hearing.

“We think this crop can become an important economic resource for Morocco and the citizens of this region,” Hazib added.