Focus on the world’s largest producers of illicit cannabis.

 

For decades, Morocco has been one of the world’s largest producers of illicit cannabis. Cultivation is deeply woven into the social and economic fabric of the northern mountainous region of the Rif. For communities in remote and underserved areas, the crop has long provided a survival economy in the absence of viable alternatives. Building on this historical association, Morocco has undertaken policy reforms to transform the informal economy into a regulated, state-supervised industry. Although these efforts are an important step towards formalization, with a view to integrating Moroccan cannabis into global supply chains, implementation challenges highlight the complexities of regulating an entrenched informal economy.By the end of 2024, ANRAC had issued more than 3 300 authorizations for cannabis-related activities, including processing, seed import, transport and other logistical aspects of the supply chain. The agency also certified 7.6 million imported seeds and authorized the use of the Beldia variety, indigenous to the Rif region. In 2024, over 2 700 hectares of land were legally cultivated by farmers within the new regulated system, producing more than 4 000 tonnes of cannabis for legal purposes.