Morocco Expands Legal Cannabis Cultivation, Rural Municipalities Eager to Join

The National Agency for the Regulation of Cannabis Activities (ANRAC) announced on October 4 that it had granted 10 permits for the production, processing, marketing and export of cannabis for therapeutic and industrial purposes. The provinces of Al Hoceima, Chefchaouen and Taounate are the ones that will grow this plant, even if requests are multiplying from other provinces of the country, reports challenge.ma.

In July 2021, when the text of law 13.21 authorizing the use of cannabis for medical and industrial purposes was published in the official journal, the regulator had stressed the possibility that the authorization could be extended to other provinces than Al Hoceima, Chefchaouen and Taounate. But this will be done according to the interest shown by national and international investors in the activities related to the cannabis production chain.

Since the passage of the law on the legal use of cannabis, several studies have reported an improvement in the incomes of households involved in the sector. According to the Ministry of the Interior, "cannabis would support between 60,000 and 90,000 families and occupies an area of about 60,000 hectares".