Morocco’s Cannabis Legalization Push Seeks European Support for Medical and Industrial Use

The decision to legalize cannabis in Morocco continues to be debated in the first chamber and is strongly discussed by political opponents, Professor Khalid Mouna told Deutshe Welle. But since this time the project is coming from the authorities, "I think it’s serious because the initiative is coming from the government, and behind the government, there is the palace, while the previous proposals came from the opposition," said Tom Blickman, a researcher on international drug policy at the Transnational Institute based in Amsterdam. Furthermore, EU governments must make more efforts to support Morocco, especially by prioritizing "alternative development".

Thus, "it would be good if Europe was more open to seeing how it can help set up this industry, for example by importing medical cannabis from Morocco to Germany - the largest medical cannabis market for the moment," Blickman explained. In addition, "if Europe facilitated imports, it would help Morocco," said Driss Benhima, former director of the North Development Agency of Morocco, who has conducted several studies on cannabis cultivation in the region and made recommendations to the government on this subject. For him, legalization would change a lot of things and "will lead to decent income, social integration and environmental protection".

It should be recalled that the issue of legalizing cannabis cultivation for medical and industrial purposes was addressed last December during a meeting of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Austria. In the region, Morocco is the only country to have voted for its legalization along with other nations. This project was launched following the proposal of the World Health Organization to remove cannabis from the list of dangerous drugs to allow studies to be carried out on its medical use.