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Morocco, a country where large volumes of cannabis are illicitly grown, is considering legalizing production for therapeutic use of the drug, the government said on Thursday.
The government has “begun to study a bill related to the legal use of cannabis,” it said in a statement.
The draft text, seen by AFP, provides for the creation of a “national agency to regulate activities related to cannabis.”
The agency will be mandated to develop an agricultural and industrial framework in the regions that will be authorized to produce the crop, the bill says.
Currently, the cultivation, sale and consumption of cannabis are strictly prohibited.
But the use is largely tolerated in the north, where an estimated 90,000-140,000 livelihoods depend on illicit production.
Current cannabis production in Morocco is estimated at more than 700 tonnes, in a 2020 study by the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime.
The legally produced quantities should not exceed the volume “required for medical, pharmaceutical and industrial production,” the bill adds.
Producers would have to be part of agricultural cooperatives and would only supply authorized companies, he predicts.
The legalization of the therapeutic use of cannabis will position Morocco in a global market that grows at an annual rate of 30 percent, and 60 percent in Europe, according to a note from the Interior Ministry.
Legislation and regulation will also improve the living conditions of farmers and protect them from “drug trafficking networks,” the note adds.
