Tag: morocco

Morocco first adopted its current medical cannabis policy last year. The 2021 measure authorized the legal production of cannabis for medical, cosmetic, and industrial uses, as well as tasked a national agency to oversee the launch and operation of the industry.

Back in March of this year Morocco’s government selected three provinces where medical cannabis would eventually be legally cultivated for domestic and export purposes. Roughly three months later the nation’s national cannabis regulatory agency met for the first time, moving the launch of the nation’s legal industry one step closer.

This month Morocco’s industry effectively did launch, in that the government issued its first round of cannabis production permits. Per Reuters:

A Moroccan state agency has issued the first 10 permits for the use of cannabis in industry and medicine and for export, it said, the result of a law passed last year.

Farmers who organise into cooperatives in the northern mountain areas of Al Houceima, Taounat and Chefchaouen will be gradually allowed to grow cannabis to meet the needs of the legal market, the agency said.

Morocco has long served as a top source for unregulated cannabis, particularly hashish. Consumers and patients all over the world, and particularly in Europe, consider Morocco’s unregulated cannabis products to be top shelf.

It will be interesting to see if Morocco’s success in the unregulated market transfers over to the regulated industry. Only time will tell, although, the speed at which Morocco is moving is certainly encouraging.

Morocco is one of many countries around the world that are working towards reforming their cannabis laws and launching a legal, regulated cannabis industry.

For several decades Morocco has served as an international source of cannabis, albeit an unregulated one. Hashish from Morocco is common in parts of Europe, especially Spain.

The demand for cannabis products from Morocco is clearly there, it’s just a matter of getting the country and legal global industry to a point where legal supply can meet legal demand, and that is also true for domestic sales.

That will be awhile, however, Morocco did recently take a significant step in that direction when its regulatory agency met for the first time. Per The New Arab:

Morocco’s national regulatory agency overseeing the use of marijuana for medical use met for the first time on Thursday in one of the last steps before legalisation in the world’s top cannabis-resin producer.

The North African nation adopted a law in 2021 provisionally authorising the legal uses of cannabis for medical, cosmetic and industrial uses, and tasked a national agency to oversee the process.

Chaired by Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit, the National Agency for the Regulation of Cannabis Activities approved its organisation chart and budget for the year 2022.

A regulated industry cannot exist without a regulatory body overseeing it, and from that perspective, the inaugural meeting by the National Agency for the Regulation of Cannabis Activities is a big deal in Morocco. Hopefully it helps speeds things up.

The North African country allows medical and industrial hemp cultivation but only in three northern states

Yet another African country has now moved forward with some form of cannabis legalization. Morocco’s cabinet adopted a draft decree last Thursday allowing cultivation, under strict regulations and control – amending parts of the country’s cannabis law in the process.

Morocco changed its law to allow for the cultivation of medical cannabis in August 2021 and established a regulatory agency that is responsible for the oversight of the cultivation, export, and sale of the plant.

It is still illegal to consume cannabis for recreational purposes in Morocco.

The new decree assigns responsibility for supporting applicants and other stakeholders to the National Agency for the Legalization of Cannabis-related Activities. The agency will establish a procedure for monthly reporting on cannabis cultivation, seed production and stock and an annual inventory from each nursery. Other agencies, including the 

That said, the new legislation also strictly limits reform to three states – all found in the north of the country. Al Hoceima, Chefchaoen and Taounate were the three initial areas chosen. This does not rule out the possibility of allowing cultivation in other provinces – depending on the demand of national and international investors.

A Major Provider of Illicit Cannabis Goes Legit

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Morocco was the world’s top producer of illicit cannabis in 2019. 

The legalization of the market here will probably begin to impact that trade – although of course as even Canada has learned, even full recreational reform does not eliminate at least the grey market. It may impact the amount of hash now found in the black market across Europe, starting with Spain. 

Morocco will certainly benefit more if such activities can be turned into legitimate income. It would allow the country to begin competing for at least the European medical market, which already has the attention of countries further south (including South Africa and Lesotho).

Obtaining investment for the sector now is obviously critical. It remains to be seen if the country can attract both domestic and foreign income for the purpose of developing its cannabis market.

Morocco becomes the 4th country in Africa, after Lesotho, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, to attempt to regulate their cannabis sector. So far, however, they remain the only African country to attempt to limit legal cultivation in a certain area of the country.

See you at the International Cannabis Business Conference in Barcelona this week! Be sure to book your tickets to our upcoming conferences in Berlin and Zurich too!

It is no secret that Morocco is home to some of the best hash on earth. It is also no secret that a lot of that hash, and even domestic cannabis flower, is smuggled out of Morocco and transported to other countries, including and especially Spain.

Much like other countries that are well-known for cannabis, Morocco has worked in recent years to try to bring its unregulated industry into the legal arena. That is never an easy task when so much of the country’s economic structure is built around an unregulated, illegal trade.

Morocco’s emerging legal cannabis industry passed a major milestone this week when industry regulators published a list of regions that have been selected to cultivate cannabis legally. Per North Africa Post:

A new step forward in the legalization of cannabis cultivation in Morocco was made Thursday as the government adopted at its weekly meeting a decree regulating the activities related to the culture of the plant and selected three provinces, namely Al Hoceima, Chefchaouen and Taounate that will grow cannabis legally.

This decree, drafted by the Ministry of the Interior in coordination with the ministerial departments concerned, is part of the completion of the application of the law that was adopted in May 2021.

Ultimately, the text will subject all activities related to the cultivation, production, processing, transport, marketing, export and import of cannabis and its by-products to a licensing system.

Make no mistake – Morocco’s illegal cannabis industry is not going anywhere, at least not any time soon. Cannabis is cultivated all over Morocco, and people that cannot obtain a license will likely continue to go about their business as usual.

With that being said, it is still very much worth celebrating the selection of provinces for legal cultivation. It’s a major step in the right direction, and hopefully licensing will be extended to the rest of the country sooner rather than later.

Global demand for cannabis products from Morocco is significant, especially in countries where cannabis cultivation is difficult to do at an elite level. If Morocco can get its legal industry infrastructure in place and embraces the cannabis industry versus only tolerating it, it will reap enormous financial rewards in the coming years.