Ketama, Morocco, April 20 2021: Hashish farmers in the kingdom of Morocco have cause to celebrate as the country now has plans to legalize cannabis for medicinal use.
Being the world’s biggest producer of cannabis resin or hashish according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Moroccan farmers has been selling the product without legal cover and can now do so on the open market since the government last month finalized draft of a bill to legalize its medicinal use which parliament will debate for legislation this week. In a study published last year by the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, the cannabis output last year in Morocco was 700 tonnes, 217 of which was seized by authorities.
A local cannabis farmer, Mohammed Morabet says he is pleased they can finally stop operating in a clandestine manner and living in fear.
Known as “kif” in Arabic that literally translates to “pleasure”, the fields on which the plant grows in the Ketama region are a part of the so far under-developed mountainous region of Rif where its growing had been declared illegal in 1954 but was tolerated because it provided livelihoods for over 100,000 families according to unofficial sources.
The growing of cannabis is for medicinal use is fast turning into a lucrative business and the Kingdom now hopes to capitalize on this opportunity and place Morocco on the global map for cannabis trade.
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