Bloomberg Law
May 28, 2021, 5:46 AM

World’s Top Cannabis Exporter Edges Nearer To Legalization

Souhail Karam
Souhail Karam
Bloomberg News

Morocco’s parliament voted to legalize the local cultivation of cannabis for medicinal and industrial use, in a potential victory for marginalized farmers in the world’s top exporter of the drug.

Morocco, where tens of thousands of people live off illegal marijuana cultivation, has debated legalization for the past decade, with advocates saying it would allow farmers to sell to the government instead of traffickers.

They found a powerful new ally in the interior ministry after 2017, when a major bout of unrest in the northern region of Rif exposed long-ignored socio-economic grievances. Rif accounts for a large share of ...