The King of Morocco has decided to pardon more than 4,800 farmers facing prosecution or convicted in cases of illegal cannabis cultivation, the Ministry of Justice announced on Monday, August 19, 2024. The decision comes after the law adopted in 2021 regulating the industrial and medical uses of cannabis in the kingdom, its largest producer in the world, according to the UN.
In Morocco, King Mohammed VI pardoned on Monday evening more than 4,800 people who were wanted, prosecuted, or convicted in cases of illegal cannabis cultivation. A decision announced by the Ministry of Justice and taken on the eve of the national holiday of the ” Revolution of the King and the People “.
The pardon of these 4,800 or so farmers, involved in illegal cannabis cultivation cases, aims to allow them to integrate into the new strategy launched, according to the Moroccan Ministry of Justice. This is after the partial legalization of the production of cannabis for therapeutic purposes. Because Morocco – the world’s leading producer of cannabis, according to the UN – adopted a law in 2021 to regulate the industrial and medical uses of cannabis: its cultivation and exploitation are now authorized in three rural provinces of the Rif region, in the northeast of the country.
“ Allowing these farmers to live in peace ”
According to Mohammed El Guerouj, the director of the National Agency for the Regulation of Cannabis Activities, the pardons will ” allow these farmers and their families to live in serenity and tranquility .” This is while small producers have been living illegally for decades and under threat of arrest.
This pardon is therefore ” an important step ” for ” the progressive elimination of illicit cultivation through the legalization or introduction of alternative crops “, continues Mohammed El Guerouj, whose agency has issued 200 authorizations in less than three years.
