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For decades, European demand turned Moroccan hashish into one of the world’s most recognizable cannabis varieties. Today, that legacy is being repackaged for medical buyers—giving Morocco an early advantage in the global legal cannabis trade that few exporters can claim.
One of the first to test this new chapter was Medropharm, a Swiss company that imported a trial shipment to assess Morocco’s potential as a source of medical-grade cannabis resin. Though modest—just 50 to 100 kilograms—the shipment was hailed as a glimpse of what could come: legal revenue replacing smuggling, and legitimacy for long-marginalized northern regions.
“Morocco has a deep historical relationship with cannabis,” said Patrick Widmer, Medropharm’s Chief Business Development Officer. “That heritage matters—not just culturally, but because it means there’s agricultural know-how already in place.” Widmer admits the trial wasn’t about quantity but credibility. “Right now, we’re selling the idea of Moroccan cannabis, not the real thing,” said a source involved in the legalization process. Branding, for now, runs ahead of infrastructure.
The National Agency for the Regulation of Cannabis (ANRAC) has issued thousands of licenses for cultivation and trade—but hundreds have already been revoked due to idle fields or unfulfilled paperwork. Even with active permits, most crops have nowhere to go: processing plants, where cannabis must be dried, tested, and traced before export, remain scarce.
Of the 60 processing licenses granted, only one facility has been built—Morocco’s first legal cannabis plant in Taounate, inaugurated in September 2024. The 3,000-square-meter site, backed by a 20-million-dirham investment, employs 25 full-time and 300 seasonal workers. Taounate, along with Chefchaouen and Al Hoceima, forms the core of Morocco’s cannabis “triangle.”
Despite decades of eradication campaigns that reduced cultivation from 134,000 hectares in 2003 to around 47,000 in 2013, the Rif region remains the world’s largest cannabis zone. Yet, less than 0.1% of traditional farmland has entered the legal system.
Morocco’s biggest hurdle is GMP compliance—Good Manufacturing Practice certification required to sell cannabis as pharmaceutical ingredients in Europe. For now, Morocco can only offer GACP certification (Good Agricultural and Collection Practice), proving crops are grown safely, but not processed to medical standards. “To enter regulated health markets, GMP-compliant steps must begin right after harvest,” Widmer explained. “Those systems aren’t yet fully established in Morocco.”
Neighbouring Portugal offers a glimpse of what success could look like. Since legalizing cannabis in 2019, its exports jumped from a few hundred kilograms to 32 tonnes in 2024, supported by over two dozen licensed plants. Greece, Canada, and Australia have followed similar paths.
Morocco’s black-market trade still dwarfs its legal output. In 2024, police seizures exceeded the entire legal exports of Portugal several times over. Advocates argue that regulating recreational use could help absorb that demand into a transparent, taxable system. “It reduces illegal trade but doesn’t erase the consumer base,” said Chakib El Khayari, coordinator of the Moroccan Coalition for the Medical and Industrial Use of Cannabis, who led a 2023 campaign for recreational legalization before it was shelved.
Surveys show cannabis remains Morocco’s most used illicit substance—consumed by 13.4% of adults, far ahead of alcohol or other drugs. International models, like Canada’s, show how legal markets can flip that balance: by 2024, nearly three-quarters of Canadians bought only from licensed outlets.
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“The challenge isn’t cannabis itself—it’s building systems that regulate it transparently,” said Widmer. Yet political hesitation persists. Parliament remains divided, with the PJD party repeatedly challenging reforms since 2021. Outside the capital, cannabis sits among Morocco’s most sensitive social debates—alongside alcohol, inheritance reform, and personal freedoms—marking the country’s slow but inevitable turn toward modernization.
