Morocco issues first permits for cannabis production

The North African nation of Morocco officially launched its legal cannabis industry this week with the issuance of the country’s first 10 cannabis production permits. The Moroccan government legalized the regulated production and marketing of cannabis for medical and industrial purposes in March last year, giving its limited stamp of approval to an industry that has thrived in the country for hundreds of years.

Under the law, farmers in the northern mountainous areas of Morocco, organized into collectives, will gradually be allowed to grow cannabis to meet the needs of the legal market. Abdeluafi Laftit, interior minister of the Kingdom of Alaouite, Morocco’s ruling monarchy, said legalizing cannabis is part of the government’s plan to create new “development opportunities,” according to a report by regional media.

On Tuesday, the National Agency for the Regulation of Cannabis Activities (ANRAC), the agency created to regulate the newly legalized industry, issued the first 10 permits for the cultivation and production of cannabis. The agency also granted authorized companies permission to market and export cannabis and cannabis derivatives for pharmaceutical, medicinal and industrial purposes. The move is part of the implementation of last year’s Law 13-21 on the Legal Use of Cannabis, according to a statement from ANRAC.

Under the plan, ANRAC will empower farmers to grow and process cannabis through a network of tightly regulated farming collectives. Permits will be issued progressively at the provincial level in the provinces of Al Hoceima, Chefchaouen and Taounate according to the requirements of the legal cannabis market. ANRAC noted that it is still studying the prospects of the legal cannabis market to fuel growth across the sector and ease the transition to the regulated market for farmers who have been producing hash for Europe’s illegal market for generations.

Will traditional farmers in Morocco see the benefits?

But farmers in Morocco’s Rif Mountains, where hash has been produced on a large scale since at least the 18th century, fear the government’s crackdown on unlicensed production and the slow pace of issuance of permits will mean that opportunities are being cut be missed. In the past, the region supplied about 70% of the hashish on the European black market. But legalization efforts and domestic production on the European continent are likely to limit this market significantly.

Souad, a cannabis farmer in the village of Azila, said Morocco’s cannabis farmers are uncertain about their future and believe the government’s plan to legalize cannabis has yet to yield any benefits.

“We’re still attached to this plant, but it doesn’t give us anything anymore,” Souad told WION News.

“Nobody wants it anymore,” she added. “Our life is hard now.”

Despite being in her sixties, Souad still grows cannabis with her sons. She hopes that legalization will help bring prosperity to her family and the marginalized region of the Rif Mountains, but is unsure of the chances of success.

“If it’s serious, it’s a good thing,” Souad said.

As cannabis reform efforts take hold in Europe, the market for Moroccan hash has declined significantly. According to a 2021 study by the Ministry of the Interior, cannabis income for farmers in Morocco fell from 500 million euros (about 490 million US dollars) a year at the beginning of the 21st century to less than 325 million euros (about 319 million US dollars). dollars) in 2020.

“The market has collapsed drastically,” said Karim, another grower in Azila.

This year, Karim faced additional challenges brought on by the region’s worst drought in decades. Due to water shortages, he was only able to farm part of his family’s land this year. Farmers are also seeing increased government efforts to curb illicit production as they begin to regulate the Moroccan cannabis market.

“Farmers are the weak link in the supply chain – we are the ones who pay the price,” Karim complained.

“The only option left to us is prison,” he added.