Top Ten Opportunities Offered by the Development of Licit Cannabis in Morocco

Here are ten main opportunities offered by the development of licit cannabis in Morocco, which has acceded to all international conventions on narcotic drugs, authorizing their use for licit purposes, especially in the medical field:

The Kingdom was even a forerunner in the legal separation between the two statuses of cannabis, recreational, governed by the Dahirs of 1919 and 1932, which were repealed by the Dahir of 1954, and medical, governed by the Dahir of 2 December 1922, regulating the import, trade, possession and use of poisonous substances;

1- The world market for medical cannabis is undergoing sustained development: average annual growth forecasts are around 30% internationally and 60% in Europe.

2- A large number of countries, particularly in Europe, have legalized medical or even recreational cannabis: 30 American states, Canada, Australia, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Denmark, Croatia, Greece, Cyprus, Brazil, Honduras, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, India, China, Lebanon, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, Lesotho, Ghana, etc…

3- The opportunities for the development of medical, cosmetic and industrial cannabis in Morocco are real and promising, given the assets at the Kingdom’s disposal (ecosystem: favorable soil and climate, proximity to the booming European market, ancestral know-how of traditional farmers, etc.).

4- These opportunities should be seized quickly given the current strong trend of legalization of medical and recreational cannabis in the world in general and in Europe in particular.

5- The rapid achievement of these opportunities requires first of all the installation in Morocco of large international operators (processing industry) and then the development of a national industrial sector.

6- The licit cultivation of cannabis will be a unifying element for populations engaged in illicit cultivation.

7- They will gradually extricate them from the grip of traffickers and enable them to integrate into the national economic fabric.

8- These legal crops will also improve the well-being of the population, which remains penalized by the generalized climate of fear of legal proceedings, and by the idleness of young people, a corollary of school failure.

9- These legal crops will also make it possible to mitigate the harmful consequences of illegal crops on the environment (deforestation, depletion of soil and water resources, pollution of water tables, etc.) and on public health.

10- The creation of an adequate legal framework is the main prerequisite for the development of licit cannabis activities.