Rabat - The 2015 report by the International Narcotics Control Board reported that Morocco remains one of the world’s largest producers of cannabis and is Europe’s leading supplier of cannabis resin.
The UN-affiliated board noted that since its visit to the Moroccan government in 2009, the kingdom has demonstrated a “high” level of cooperation in anti-narcotics efforts, especially in the fields of preventing citizens from using cannabis, reducing the area of lands cultivating the plant, and treating narcotics addiction.
In 2013, Morocco reported that approximately 47,196 hectares of land were used to harvest cannabis within its borders. In light of Morocco’s efforts in reducing the prevalence of the plant, the board said it expects the country to meet its goal of decreasing cultivation to 34,000 acres by 2020.
Despite these gains in the control of cannabis production and consumption, Morocco is witnessing the rise of cocaine smuggling.
“While seizures of cannabis resin reported by the Moroccan authorities have declined significantly since 2012, the country is witnessing the emergence of the trafficking of cocaine, which is being smuggled on commercial flights from Brazil and transits through West Africa and Morocco in route to Europe,” the report read.
Additionally, the report said that although law enforcement efforts have reduced the acreage of land used for cannabis cultivation by 9.2% in between 2012 and 2013, the concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in Moroccan cannabis continues to rise.
THC is the active element in the cannabis plant, which causes the “high” that occurs following consumption.
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