RABAT: The king of Morocco has pardoned nearly 5,000 people convicted or wanted on charges pertaining to illegal cannabis cultivation, the justice ministry in a statement said.
Morocco is a major producer of cannabis and has allowed the cultivation, export and use of the drug for medicine purposes since 2021, but it does not allow it to be used for other purposes.
Mohammed El Guerrouj, head of Moroccan cannabis regulator ANRAC, told the media that the pardon by King Mohammed VI would encourage farmers to adopt the legal process of cannabis cultivation to improve their revenue and livelihood.
According to official figures the first legal cannabis harvest in Morocco was 294 metric tons in 2023. Legal exports since 2023 so far stood at 225 kilograms, Guerrouj said.
This year it is likely to be higher as the number of farming permits increases and ANRAC allows the cultivation of the local strain known as Beldia.
Nearly a million people live in areas of Morocco where cannabis is the main economic activity. It has been publicly grown and smoked there for many decades, mixed with tobacco in traditional long-stemmed pipes with clay bowls.
The 2021 legalization was aimed to improve farmers’ incomes and protect them from drug traffickers who dominate the cannabis trade and export it illegally.
Morocco is also seeking to tap into a growing international market for legal cannabis, and awarded 54 export licenses last year.
