Morocco’s Cannabis Trade: From Fields to Global Markets, BBC Investigates

It is a very interesting documentary that the British channel BBC has just produced, in its Arabic version, trying to answer (and not just) the question: Who benefits from Moroccan hashish?

The BBC journalist gives the floor to several people, including association activists, farmers, police officers, but also coffee shop owners (cannabis) in the Netherlands. The latter almost suggest that they have (close?) relations with the producers in Morocco, even though the importation of hashish is illegal in Holland, although it is allowed there to consume it... According to the documentary, more than 1 million people derive benefits from cannabis cultivation.

The BBC even interviewed Abdelhak Khiam, the head of the BCIJ (Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation). The latter stated that his services, and the Moroccan authorities in general, manage to stop most attempts to smuggle hashish into Europe.... He also declared: "For us, drug trafficking is a crime like any other and justice punishes anyone who engages in it." At the same time, for him, the criminal organizations that are active in smuggling hashish are extremely organized, and not in Morocco, but outside of Morocco.

Many other things are addressed, such as genetically modified cannabis, or the fact that European citizens are much more involved in production (and other) than one might think at first glance. A documentary to watch: