Tag: cannabis cultivation

First legal cannabis harvest in Marocco

Posted on by Milutin

Used news by Reuters and Barneys Farm

After Marocco approved its cultivation and export for medicine and industrial uses, country’s first legal cannabis harvest was 294 metric tons in 2023. This development has not only opened up new avenues for economic growth but also paved the way for a more regulated and controlled cannabis industry in Morocco.

Cannabis regulator ANRAC announced that the harvest was made by 32 cooperatives that brought together 430 farmers covering 277 hectares in the northern Rif mountain areas of Al Houceima, Taounat and Chefchaouen. The legalisation was intended to improve farmers’ incomes and protect them from drug traffickers who dominate the cannabis trade and export it illegally.

About 47,000 hectares of the Rif are devoted to cannabis output, roughly a third of the amount in 2003 after government crackdowns. Nearly a million people live in these areas where cannabis is the main economic activity. It has been publicly grown and smoked there for generations, mixed with tobacco in traditional long-stemmed pipes with clay bowls.

Recognizing the need for change, the Moroccan government took a bold step by approving the cultivation and export of cannabis for medicinal and industrial uses.

This decision aimed to improve farmers’ incomes, protect them from the clutches of the illicit drug trade, and position Morocco as a key player in the growing global market for legal cannabis products. The establishment of ANRAC, the national cannabis regulatory agency, was a crucial step in this process. ANRAC’s role is to oversee the cultivation, processing, and export of legal cannabis, ensuring that the industry operates within the boundaries of the law and benefits the local communities. ANRAC is currently examining applications from 1,500 farmers who have organized themselves into 130 cooperatives, highlighting the growing interest and participation in the legal cannabis industry.

The legalization of canabis cultivation has the potential to transform the lives of thousands of farmers and their families in the Rif region, who have long relied on the plant as their primary source of income.

A critical aspect of the legal cannabis industry in Morocco is the empowerment of local communities. By providing them with legal avenues to grow and sell cannabis, the government can help alleviate poverty, promote rural development, and reduce the influence of drug traffickers in these communities.

 

Cannabis and Development

Posted on by Milutin

Millions of people have found a lifeline in the illicit cannabis economy in these past decades, but traditional cannabis farmers in the South are confronted with huge obstacles to participating in the emerging legal markets. The rapidly expanding legal cannabis markets for medical and adult use are increasingly captured by corporate businesses. Cultivation is more and more shifting from the South to the North, from small farmers to big companies, and from outdoor to indoor, with negative impacts on sustainable development goals.

The Transnational Institute (TNI) issued their first policy brief which argues that it is vital that the socio-economic needs and rights of traditional cannabis producers are not overlooked and that ‘no-one is left behind’ in this historic transition.

To read the brief, please follow this link>>>.

 

A regulatory take on cannabis and cannabinoids for medicinal use in the European Union

Posted on by Milutin

The new review published by the Archives of Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology, takes a quick look at the current legal framework in the European Union which regulates cannabis use and cultivation for medicinal purposes. The document was prepared by Slovene Metoda Lipnik-Štangelj from the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Toxicology, Ljubljana and Barbara Razinger from the Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices of the Republic of Slovenia.

From the abstract

The discovery of the endocannabinoid system has raised public interest in the medicinal use of cannabis, phytocannabinoids, and synthetic cannabinoids, which has always been closely regulated due to their psychotropic effects and potential abuse. The review takes a quick look at the current legal framework in the European Union, which regulates cannabis use and cultivation for medicinal purposes in line with the United Nations Conventions on the production, trade, and use of cannabis, phytocannabinoids, and synthetic cannabinoids. And while the EU legislation precisely defines requirements and marketing authorisation procedures for medicinal products for all EU member states, there is no common regulatory framework for magistral and officinal preparations containing cannabinoids, as they are exempt from marketing authorisation. Instead, their regulation is left to each member state, and it is quite uneven at this point, mainly due to cultural and historical differences between the countries, leading to different access to non-authorised medicinal products. Therefore, to meet great public interest, harmonised approaches on cannabinoid-containing products without marketing authorisation would be welcome to level the playing field in the EU.

To read/download the review, follow this link>>>.