Morocco backs legalising cannabis for medical use

Morocco is a step closer to legalising the medical use of cannabis after the government ratified a draft law.

But the government on Thursday upheld a ban on its recreational use and the draft law for medical use still needs parliament approval.

The move would "reconvert illicit" cannabis plantations into "legal and durable activities that generate jobs", according to the text of the draft legislation.

According to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) last year, the North African country is the world's biggest producer of cannabis resin or hashish.

Morocco's production of cannabis was estimated at more than 700 tonnes in a 2020 study by the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime.

Figures released by Moroccan authorities this week showed that 55,000 hectares (around 136,000 acres) of land in the northern mountainous Rif region were being used to illicitly grow hashish in 2019.

Authorities did not give more recent estimates but in 2018 production was estimated at 45,000 hectares.

Legalising cannabis for medical use will position Morocco in a global market that is growing at an annual rate of 30 percent, and by 60 percent a year in Europe, according to Morocco's interior ministry.

State regulation will improve farmers' living conditions and protect them from illegal drug trafficking networks, the ministry had said.