More than ever before, the people of Morocco are urging the government to finally legalize cannabis. Three years ago, the plant was approved for export. Since then, farm communities have continued to produce large quantities of cannabis on fertile land, notably in the Rif region. The most recent call for legalization gained global publicity when the National Agency for the Regulation of Activities Related to Cannabis (ANRAC) visited these farms to celebrate the continued growth of the first waves of legal cannabis. 

For the past six decades, cannabis has remained illegal in Morocco, despite being the world’s leading provider of hashish, with an infamously successful black market that provides to Europe and beyond. In May 2021, the parliament took a significant step by passing a law allowing the cultivation of cannabis for pharmaceutical and industrial purposes. It is estimated that the country could generate $15 billion with full legalization. “In Morocco, opening a discussion is necessary because regulating cannabis for medical and industrial purposes will not eliminate the existing black market,” said Shakib Al Khayari, coordinator of the Moroccan Coalition for Medical and Industrial Use of Cannabis.

However, even if the country legalizes cannabis, there is intense distrust, fear, and pain among farmers. Although a state plan aims to ensure indigenous peoples receive equal financial benefits from potential cannabis businesses, there remains doubt. Many farmers who would rather stick to the black market to avoid the upfront costs, administrative hurdles, and quality control. Not to mention, a huge shift in production will have to happen that’ll no doubt raise costs of production. Khalid Mouna, a professor at Moulay Ismail University in Meknes who studies Morocco’s cannabis economy, recently told Bloomberg, “Cannabis has been part of the region’s economy for centuries, and changing it overnight will face resistance.”

Complicating matters further, some farmers trust the cartels more than the government given their long history of extreme laws and enforcement practices. For example, an arrest for cannabis can result in a 10-year jail sentence and a fine. To worsen relations between growers and authorities, many farmers have experienced police burning their crops, depriving them and their families of food and livelihoods.

In the eyes of the nation’s state agency, though, legal cannabis businesses could potentially increase farmers’ revenues four or fivefold. Especially if legalization goes beyond medical use. “The real opportunity for Morocco in the long term lies in recreational use,” according to Alastair Moore, co-founder of cannabis-focused consultancy Hanway Associates, “because that’s where their brand is.”

The news of significant documented growth comes after a booming year in harvesting following the first legal harvest, which produced 294 metric tons thanks to the country’s approval of cultivation and export for medicinal and industrial purposes. Around 430 farmers completed their grow jobs in the Northern Rif mountain areas of Al Houceima, Taounat, and Chefchaouen.

Last year, the country granted 54 export permits. So far this year, the number of permits for cultivation increased to 161. Mohamed Guerrouj, head of the National Agency for the Regulation of Activities Linked to Cannabis, praised the impressive results. “This year, we anticipate a significant harvest given the cultivated area,” he told The North African Post. Additionally, the country reported and celebrated its first legal export of THC to Switzerland for medical purposes.

Mohamed El-Guerrouj, a former politician and present leader of ANRAC, is working towards a greener future and smoothing tensions between the palace and farmers. He described the legal growth and steps toward full legalization as “historic.”

Despite harsh laws and slow progress, cannabis is widely accepted by civilians and has long been enjoyed. Two years ago, 80% of the country supported cannabis legalization. This overwhelming support is probably why much of the population backed the infamous drug trafficker Mohammed Al-Rammach, who ran the largest cannabis racket in Morocco in the early 2000s. 

When Al-Rammach was arrested in 2003, many civilians decried his arrest because he used the money to support struggling families and create job opportunities. For example, the smuggler would wash his money by opening businesses to employ locals. 

Farmers fear that the state will simply allow big pharmaceutical companies and businesses to reap all the rewards. There have been few guarantees, especially in writing, to assure farmers that this won’t happen. Mohamed Benamar, a consultant for ANRAC, is working to cool these tensions as they develop a 10-year plan for legal cannabis sales and use.

Meanwhile, similar to the United States, activists, locals, and farmers will continue to criticize the government’s hypocrisy as they seek to benefit from legal cannabis. On the flip side, there are those who remain hopeful about the change and the progress being made. Despite the challenges and complexities of legalizing cannabis in Morocco, the country’s population strongly supports legalization.

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Mohamed El Guerrouj, who has been serving as the interim director for the Morocco National Agency for Regulating Cannabis Related Activities (ANRAC) general since September 2022, recently was granted the title of general director by Moroccan King Mohammed VI.

According to Morocco World News, the announcement was made on Oct. 19 between King Mohammed VI and a council of ministers meeting to discuss the Morocco 2024 Finance Bill, as well as international agreements, and appointments to official positions. 

El Guerrouj has had a lengthy career prior to his most recent cannabis appointment with plenty of experience in agriculture and development, according to Morocco World News. He graduated from the Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine in Rabat, located on the northwestern coast of Morocco, as well as the National Institute of Agronomy in Paris-Grignon, France.

In 1991, he served as the deputy director the technical department at a corporation called SOGETA, and moved on to positions as: the Ministry of Agriculture (1994), Head of the Cereals Department at the Central Directorate of Plant Production (1995), Provincial Director of Agriculture (2005), Head of the International Cooperation Division (2007), Chief of the Cabinet of the Minister of General and Economic Affairs (also in 2007), Director of Project Management at the Agency for Agricultural Development (2009), Director-General of the Agency for Agricultural Development (2013), governor of El Jadida (2017), and interim director of ANRAC (as of September 2022).

Now he’s poised to lead ANRAC into the future. Moroccan Parliament initially voted to legalize medical cannabis through Law 13-21 in 2021 legalize cannabis for industrial, medical, and cosmetic purposes.

ANRAC was established in 2022 to regulate all aspects of Morocco’s cannabis industry, including cultivation, certifications/licensing, marketing, processing, and manufacturing. ANRAC held its first meeting in June 2022.

By October 2022, ANRAC issued the first 10 cannabis production permits, as well as authorized companies to “market and export cannabis derivatives for pharmaceutical, medical, and industrial purposes.” In doing so, the agency allows cannabis cultivation and processing to be done through agricultural collectives.

In December 2022, Moroccan law enforcement dismantled a drug trafficking operation and found more than two tons of illegal cannabis. In 2021, law enforcement seized more than 191 tons of cannabis, which reflected a decrease in seizure amounts compared to that of 2020.

In March of this year, Morocco officials announced that it would begin building its first testing lab, called Bio Cannat. It was one of the 10 original businesses to receive a permit from ANRAC, according to Morocco World News.

Morocco has a long-standing history of cannabis cultivation and hashish production, especially in the Moroccan Rif mountains. According to a historical study published in Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research in October 2022, entitled “Origin, Early History, Cultivation, and Characteristics of the Traditional Varieties of Moroccan Cannabis sativa L.,” it’s thought that cannabis was brought to Morocco by Arab conquerors in the 10th century. Other researchers believe that it may have been introduced by travelers going on pilgrimages to Mecca, or possibly brought by African slaves. During that time, it was likely cultivated to make food, and use for textiles and making paper.

What’s more certain is that cannabis cultivation was definitely happening in the Rif mountains around the early 1800s. As of the early 1900s, cannabis was mainly used for its fibers. The study claims that European narrow-leaf hemp varieties were possibly introduced to Moroccan landrace strains.

In the 1960s, it’s believed that Lebanon hashish seeds, and the process of sieving (collecting cannabis resin powder) were brought to Morocco. By the early 1980s, more Lebanese cannabis strains were introduced to Morocco. Researchers noted that these strains became less common in cultivation compared to western hybrid cultivars because they were “improved, more productive, and more potent.”

Cannabis prohibition began at the end of the 19th century, when sultan Hassan I created strict laws for cannabis trade and export, although he permitted five village tribes to continue cultivating. Later on, under Spanish and French control (although mainly through a monopolized tobacco grower) until 1953. Morocco became independent in 1956, and cannabis cultivation was banned. However, those villages and mountainous cultivation areas still grew the plant.

The research study notes that the Rif mountains are “unfavorable” for agriculture, due to poor soil quality and a climate that leans too hot in the summer and too wet in the winter. So cultivators are limited to growing in spring and fall.

According to a recent report this summer, illegal cannabis cultivation is still common in the Rif mountains. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, that region is one of the top producers of cannabis resin in the world today.

One Moroccan cultivator, named Mourad, told Al Jazeera that he learned cultivation from friends and family, although many others learned how to grow from hippies who traveled to the mountains. However, he noted his concern for switching from illegal to legal cultivation. “Official representatives came to the village in March to discuss the new bill with us and take the names of the people who might be interested,” said Mourad. “For my part, I do not really know what I am going to do. If I am forced to switch to legal production, I will, but if most of my neighbours continue to produce cannabis illegally, I will do like them.”

The Moroccan Ministry of Interior estimated in 2013 that 700,000 people rely on cannabis cultivation as their livelihood.

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Law enforcement officials in Morocco completed a massive drug bust this week in the southern part of the country. 

The Moroccan General Directorate of National Security said on Tuesday “that police dismantled an international drug trafficking network,” as reported by Morocco World News, which noted that the raid resulted in the arrest of “five suspects aged between 24 and 44 for their alleged involvement in the network.”

The General Directorate of National Security, or DGSN, which serves as Morocco’s national police force, provided details of the operation on Twitter, where it said that a “joint security operation between the judicial police and the interests of the General Directorate of National Territorial Surveillance … resulted in the abortion of an attempt to smuggle international goods of two tons and 120 kilograms of shira, and the seizure of an inflatable boat and equipment used in maritime navigation.” 

According to Morocco World News, the country “has been intensifying its efforts against drug trafficking.”

“Last year, Moroccan police handled 82,950 cases related to the possession and trafficking of drugs. Security services sent 103,589 people to court, including 261 foreigners,” the outlet reported. “During the same year, police seized 191 tonnes and 158 kilograms of cannabis, which is one of the most common drugs in Morocco. The amount of cannabis seized in 2021, represents a decrease of 12% compared to 2020.”

The stepped-up level of enforcement comes at a time of significant change to Morocco’s laws governing cannabis. Long regarded as one of the world’s leading producers of cannabis, Moroccan lawmakers last year passed a law “authorizing the therapeutic use of cannabis, a major reform for this North African country considered to be one of the leading producers of hashish in the world,” Agence France-Presse reported at the time.

“The objective of the bill… is to ‘reconvert illicit crops that destroy the environment into legal activities that are sustainable and generate value and employment,’” Agence France-Presse explained. “The deputies of the Justice and Development Party (PJD), at the head of the government coalition, were the only ones to vote against the text presented by the executive, denouncing ‘hastiness and risk of exploitation during the electoral campaigns’ for the regional ones in September and the legislative ones at the beginning of October.”

In October, the country issued the first round of cannabis cultivation permits. The newly formed National Agency for the Regulation of Cannabis Activities (ANRAC), which is acting as the chief regulator of the Moroccan cannabis industry, issued 10 permits for both production and cultivation. 

Morocco World News reported at the time that, following the first licenses, “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,” the outlet reported. “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.”

The outlet provided more background on the policy change: 

“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.”

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The northern African nation of Morocco formally launched its legal cannabis industry this week with the issuance of the country’s first 10 permits to produce cannabis. The Moroccan government legalized the regulated production and commercialization of cannabis for medicinal and industrial purposes in March of 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 Morocco’s northern mountainous areas who organize into collectives will gradually be permitted to cultivate cannabis to fill the needs of the legal market. Abdeluafi Laftit, the Interior Minister of the Alaouite kingdom, Morocco’s reigning monarchy, said the legalization of cannabis is part of the government’s plan to create new “development opportunities,” according to a report from regional media.

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

Under the plan, ANRAC will authorize farmers to cultivate and process cannabis through a network of closely regulated agricultural collectives. The authorizations will be issued at the provincial level in the provinces of Al Hoceima, Chefchaouen, and Taounate, in a gradual fashion as the needs of the legal market for cannabis dictate. ANRAC noted that it is still studying the prospects of the legal cannabis market in order to foster growth throughout the sector and make the transition to the regulated market easier for farmers who have been producing hashish for Europe’s illicit market for generations.

Will Traditional Farmers in Morocco See the Benefits?

But farmers in Morocco’s Rif Mountains, where large-scale production of hashish has occurred since at least the 18th century, fear the government’s crackdown on unlicensed production and the slow pace of issuing permits will result in missed opportunities. Historically, the region has supplied about 70% of the hashish in Europe’s illicit market. But legalization efforts and domestic production on the European continent are likely to cut into that market significantly.

Souad, a cannabis farmer in the village of Azila, said that Morocco’s cannabis farmers are uncertain about their future and believe that the government’s plan to legalize cannabis has not yet delivered any benefits.

“We’re still attached to this plant, but it has stopped giving us anything,” Souad told WION news.

“Nobody wants it anymore,” she added. “Our lives are hard now.”

Although she is in her 60s, Souad still cultivates cannabis with her sons. She hopes that legalization will help bring prosperity to her family and the marginalized Rif Mountains region, but she is unsure of the prospects for success.

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

As cannabis reform efforts in Europe take hold, the market for Moroccan hashish has dropped significantly. Income from cannabis for farmers in Morocco fell from 500 million euros (about $490 million) a year in the early part of the 21st century to less than 325 million euros (about $319 million) in 2020, according to a 2021 interior ministry study.

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

This year Karim faced additional challenges caused by the worst drought the region has seen in decades. Because of the water shortages, he was only able to farm a portion of his family’s land this year. Farmers are also seeing increased efforts by the government to stem illicit production as they begin to regulate Morocco’s cannabis market.

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

“The only option we have left is prison,” he added.

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