Morocco Grants First Authorizations for Legal Cannabis Industry

The Cannabis Activities Regulatory Agency (ANRAC), a brand new organization to regulate the legal cultivation of cannabis, issued ten permits for processing and manufacturing cannabis in Morocco.

Casablanca – The Cannabis Activities Regulatory Agency (ANRAC), a brand new organization to regulate the legal cultivation of cannabis, issued ten permits for processing and manufacturing cannabis in Morocco.

The agency also granted permission to market and export cannabis and its derivatives for medical, pharmaceutical, and industrial purposes.

According to a statement issued by ANRAC on October 4, this measure is part of the execution of Law 13-21 on the legal uses of this plant.

Following the issuance of the first batch of authorizations, ANRAC will begin authorizing farmers to legally cultivate and produce cannabis within a tightly regulated framework of agricultural cooperatives.

This procedure will take place at the provincial level in the provinces of Al Hoceima, Chefchaouen, and Taounate, in accordance with the expressed needs of the industry.

ANRAC is still investigating the market’s prospects in order to produce sector-wide growth and make the conversion of farmers from illegal to legal activities easier, the statement concluded.

Over the past years, Morocco has shifted its approach towards putting in place a legal framework to allow legal cannabis production while fighting illicit cultivation and commercialization of the popular product.

In June this year, Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit participated in the first meeting of ANRAC.

The meeting’s goal was to discuss the final stages of the implementation of Law 13-21, which details the authorized uses of cannabis. The meeting also authorized the agency’s initial steps, which included the establishment of the first cooperatives for the production of local medicinal cannabis.

Morocco’s regulation 13-21 hopes to ensure that farmers switch to legal cannabis cultivation in order to increase their revenue and improve labor conditions, but does little to capitalize on Morocco’s massive illicit cannabis production which supplies 70% of Europe’s cannabis needs.