The law to make the cultivation and export of medicinal cannabis legal is currently on the table of parliamentarians. In view of the expected investments, the Minister of the Interior wishes his vote as soon as possible.
Morocco is one of the largest producers of cannabis globally and the largest exporter of illegal by-products to the EU said several international institutions such as the UN and the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction. Thus, with some details very quickly settled, the kingdom is certain to rise to the rank of the second country to legalize cannabis after Lebanon. In addition, legalizing cannabis for medical and industrial purposes would benefit around one million subsistence farmers, especially in northern Morocco.
On the other hand, legalizing cannabis cultivation could politically help gain voters in rural cannabis growing areas. In addition, “Morocco would be ideally positioned to reap a huge influx of investment in the infrastructure needed to serve its lucrative market,” cannabis market research firm New Frontier Data said in its 2019 report. Those producers will have the opportunity to diversify the production of cannabis-related products.
It should be noted that the steps taken so far in the legalization of cannabis have started since December 2020, when Morocco was the only country in the region to vote for the reclassification of cannabis during a meeting of the United Nations Commission on narcotics in Austria. Following the UN vote, Moroccan Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit presented the legalization bill in April to Parliament for ratification, after its adoption by the government. Asking deputies to quickly vote for this law, the minister believes that with legalization, Morocco could derive maximum profits and farmers would stop producing cannabis in fear and in hiding.
