North Africa

Cannabis and climate change: challenge for an emerging crop

Planet WatchSome of the key cannabis cultivation zones around the world are also those feeling the earliest and harshest impacts of the impending global climate disaster. How can the global cannabis community respond?

Morocco gets legal cannabis sector

Posted on June 19th, 2021 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , , , , , .

MoroccoMorocco, long the world's largest illicit producer, is finally getting a legalized commercial cannabis industry, thanks to a law actually introduced by the current otherwise conservative government. The new law is designed to daylight traditional small growers in the marginalized Rif Mountains.

But the program is geared toward the export market and explicitly bars "recreational" use. It remains to be seen whether there will be a meaningful relaxation of increasingly militarized cannabis enforcement.

Morocco retains status as world's top (illicit) cannabis producer

MoroccoThe United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) last month issued its World Drug Report 2019—its 22nd annual survey of production, trafficking and eradication and enforcement efforts around the world. In addition to providing figures on cocaine and opiates, the report seeks to quantify the amount of cannabis cultivated in each producer country.

Spain and Morocco in heavy crackdown on hashish networks

Posted on March 1st, 2018 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , , .

MoroccoOver the past weeks, authorities in Morocco and Spain have unleashed sweeps against hashish smuggling networks, arresting hundreds. One ring was reportedly using Serbian ex-military helicopter pilots to ferry product across the Strait of Gibraltar. This heightened militarization is disappointing, as a legalization initiative in Morocco—the world's top cannabis producer—fell victim to political unrest and intrigues last year.

Hashish traffic at issue in Morocco-Algeria tensions

Posted on December 16th, 2017 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , .

MoroccoIn the cold war between North African neighbors Morocco and Algeria, the latter has long used the status of the former as the world's top cannabis producer for propaganda, painting the conservative kingdom as a drug menace to the greater region. Now the narco-baiting has exploded into a diplomatic flare-up. 

Morocco: political blow to cannabis legalization effort

Posted on August 24th, 2017 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , .

MoroccoMorocco has long been the world's leading cannabis producer, but the conservative monarchy has managed to keep any talk of legalization out of political discourse—until last year, when the country's biggest opposition party submitted a bill in parliament to at least allow cultivation for medicinal and industrial purposes. Now that effort has been dealt a setback, with the unexpected resignation of Ilyas El-Omari as head of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM).

North Africa hashish trade booms —despite vigorous crackdown

Posted on February 28th, 2017 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , , , , .

North AfricaCountries both sides of the Mediterranean are stepping up joint operations against hashish flowing into Europe from North Africa. Spanish authorities on Feb. 17 boasted the dismantling of two smuggling networks that were bringing Moroccan hashish into the port of Málaga. In a two-day operation, Spain's Civil Guard arrested 50 people and confiscated a helicopter, cars, boats, cash and weapons, as well as 3.7 metric tons of hashish. Moroccan authorities cooperated in the investigation, according to a report on Morocco World News.

Morocco: push for (partial) legalization in 2016

Posted on July 13th, 2016 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , , , , , .

North AfricaAccording to the latest World Drug Report (PDF) released by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Morocco remains the planet's top producer of "cannabis resin" (hashish), followed by Afghanistan, Lebanon, India and Pakistan. Massive seizures continue to be regularly reported. As this month opened, security forces announced confiscation of over 4,000 tons of "cannabis" (probably hashish rather than unprocessed herb) at El Guergarat crossing on the border with Mauritania. (Moroccan news accounts did not mention that this is actually not in Morocco but in the Moroccan-occupied territory of Western Sahara.) The stash was hidden in a truck headed across the border; the driver was arrested and an investigation opened into a possible trafficking network linking Morocco to exit ports in West Africa.

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