Morocco legalized the export of industrial and medical cannabis in 2021 and has being issuing permits to traditional growers since then. Legalisation was intended to improve farmers' incomes and protect them from drug traffickers who dominate the cannabis trade and export it illegally. Fifty four legal cannabis export permits were issued last year, leading to a jump in supply.

In the latest move from Rabat, Reuters News Agency reports that Morocco’s  King Mohammed VI has pardoned nearly 5,000 people convicted or wanted on charges linked to illegal cannabis cultivation. Most of those convicted are from the Rif Mountains, where cannabis has been cultivated for generations.

READ: Morocco’s Illegal Cannabis Farmers Emerge Boldly From the Shadows Under New Regulatory Regime

Moroccan cannabis regulator ANRAC head Mohammed El Guerrouj told Reuters the pardon would encourage farmers "to engage in the legal process of cannabis cultivation to improve their revenue and living conditions."

ANRAC said Morocco's first legal cannabis harvest was in 2023, with a total production of 294 metric tons. The harvest was made by 32 cooperatives that brought together 430 farmers covering 277 hectares in the northern Rif mountain areas of Al Houceima, Taounat and Chefchaouen.

This year, the regulator is examining applications by 1,500 farmers who organised themselves into 130 cooperatives. ANRAC said the cultivation of the local drought-enduring landrace, known as Beldia, began in August 2024.

this month.

According to French media, Morocco has already exported "a quintal of resin with a THC content of less than 1%" to Switzerland in the second quarter of 2024.

Although Morocco is a major cannabis producer, officially cannabis use for recreational purposes is illegal. In practice, it is tolerated.

Nearly a million people live in areas of northern Morocco where cannabis is the main economic activity. It has been publicly grown and smoked there for generations, mixed with tobacco in traditional long-stemmed pipes with clay bowls.

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