Illegal Cannabis Farms Threaten Morocco’s Water Resources, NGOs Warn

Traffickers specializing in cannabis cultivation are actively mobilizing for the import of "Kartika" plants. Undisturbed by the denunciations of associations working for the protection of the environment on the serious consequences of this cultivation on water resources, these trafficking networks have already started clearing the vast lands they rent in the regions of Chefchaouen, Ouezzane and El Hoceima, for the cultivation of the new type of cannabis, reports Al Akhbar.

The production of "kartika", imported from certain European countries and more profitable than traditional plants, requires a large amount of water, hence the anarchic installation and overexploitation of rivers and springs by traffickers. Also, the daily Al Akhbar notes that this enthusiasm for its production is likely to lead to a water war every irrigation season.

In this regard, the competent authorities are preparing to take measures against the clandestine exploitation of the waters of rivers and springs, the regulation of well drilling and the repression of any destruction of the electricity network, according to certain sources, stressing that the government must find a real solution to the informal sectors in northern Morocco. In addition, it is necessary to attract investments to make up for the delays in the realization of dam projects and the clandestine exploitation of water resources, they hammered.