The Moroccan parliament has held a hearing into the industrial and medical benefits of marijuana use. The discussions, started by one of Morocco's main political parties are the first steps to introduce a draft law next year aimed at legalizing the plant.
The hearing, organized by the Party for Authenticity and
Modernity (PAM), examined the financial exploitation of marijuana
growth. PAM members argue that legalizing farming would help
smallholders, as an estimated one million Moroccans depend on
cultivation.
"We are not seeking to legalize the production of drugs, but to
search for possible medical and industrial uses of this plant and
create an alternative economy in the region," said Milouda
Hazib, head of the party's parliamentary delegation.
The debate included testimony on the Swiss know-hows in using
marijuana for medical and industrial purposes. Setting up control
and law enforcement mechanisms also occupied the debate as PAM
seeks to allow farmers to sell their yields to the government
rather than to drug traffickers.
"Security policies aren't solving the problem because it's an economic and social issue so the PAM is trying to find a credible alternative," PAM’s Mehdi Bensaid said. "We think this crop can become an important economic resource for Morocco and the citizens of this region."
The aim of the party is to convince other parties to support
legislation next year that would legalize cannabis.
Illegal marijuana cultivation annually reaches 10 percent of
Morocco’s economy with sales estimated at $10 billion, according
to the Moroccan Network for the Industrial and Medicinal Use of
Marijuana.
Legalizing cultivation could boost exports of marijuana-based
products, such as medicines and textiles in a country which seeks
to reduce its budget deficit of 23 percent of gross domestic
product
According to the UN, Morocco is responsible for 42 percent of the
world supply of marijuana. Cannabis farms are mainly found in the
north of the country in the Rif Mountains. The region is also one
of the nation’s poorest where GDP per capita is 50 percent of the
national average.
Authorities in Morocco have waged a slash-and-burn campaign
against marijuana in the country reducing planted areas to 47,000
hectares in 2010 from 137,000 hectares in 2003, according to the
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.