Morocco: final push to legalize medical cannabis

The Bill No. 13.21 A bill on the medical and industrial use of cannabis was passed last week by Moroccan lawmakers, after receiving approval from the Committee on Internal Affairs, Local Governments, Housing, and Urban Policy in the House of Representatives.

The bill was passed by a vote of 119 to 48, with the Justice and Development Party (PJD), which leads the governing coalition, who voted against. It still needs to be approved by the second chamber of Parliament before it can be ratified.

Local Producers on the Front Lines

According to official figures, some 400,000 people—or 60,000 households—make their living from the cultivation of cannabis in Morocco. Until now, small farmers in the north received «4% of the final revenue in the illegal market» compared to potentially «12% in the legal market,» according to the MAP news agency.

This bill, which addresses a legal gap in cannabis regulation, views farmers as the cornerstone of the initiative by allowing them to obtain a license issued by the National Regulatory Agency for cannabis-related activities.

The bill recommends that farmers form cooperatives that will be responsible for signing contracts with manufacturers and ensuring that farmers' rights are protected. And if medical cannabis is legalized is already attracting the interest of manufacturers, long-time cannabis growers also intend to play a significant role in the future industry.

Spurred by the proposed law, two main coalitions are claiming the identity of «bled du kif»—the name given by local stakeholders to the historic cannabis-producing region: one representing the people of the kif region (Sanhaja and Ghomara) and the other representing the regions of origin of kif. The goal for each of these groups is to create a local industry for people who already worked in or come from these regions, and to protect the gains that have been maintained for 50 years under Morocco’s policy of «tolerance» toward cannabis.