Morocco Considers Legalization of Marijuana

Photo: EPA

Moroccan Party for Authenticity and Modernity (PAM) organized a hearing into the industrial and medical benefits of marijuana use. Its seeks to introduce a draft law next year aimed at legalizing the plant as marijuana cultivation annually reaches 10 percent of Morocco’s economy with sales estimated at $10 billion.

“We are not seeking to legalize the production of drugs, but to search for possible medical and industrial uses of this plant and create an alternative economy in the region,” said Milouda Hazib, head of the party’s parliamentary delegation.

The party seeks to enforce mechanisms to allow farmers to sell their yields to the government rather than to drug traffickers.

“Security policies aren’t solving the problem because it’s an economic and social issue so the PAM is trying to find a credible alternative,” PAM’s Mehdi Bensaid said. “We think this crop can become an important economic resource for Morocco and the citizens of this region.”

 The country’s budget deficit reaches 23 percent of GDP and the country’s economy can hardly survive without its marijuana production.

According to the UN, Morocco is responsible for 42 percent of the world supply of marijuana. Cannabis farms are mainly found in the north of the country in the Rif Mountains. The region is also one of the nation’s poorest where GDP per capita is 50 percent of the national average.