Morocco's 2003 cannabis cultivation estimated at 47,000 tons

Cannabis cultivation in Morocco covers a 134,000 hectare surface, which amounts to a raw production of 47,000 tons, corresponding to a potential hashish production of 3,080 tons, according to a survey conducted in cooperation between the Moroccan Agency for Economic and Social Development of the Northern Provinces, and the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Presenting Monday the results of the survey with UNODC officials in Rabat, Driss Benhima, the Moroccan Agency's executive director, explained that cannabis cultivation in Morocco is a "manageable and a controllable" phenomenon as it represents only 0.57 % of Morocco's GDP and 51% of the annual income of a cannabis producing family.

The survey says 800,000 persons work in cannabis cultivation, which represents 27% of arable lands in the surveyed territory along the mountainous chain of the Rif.

Cannabis production in Morocco raises a total revenue of 2 billion DH (214 million US$), while the total market value of Moroccan cannabis resin is estimated at US$ 12 billion, the study goes.

"It is indeed a global cannabis market, Benhima said. Our country is therefore afflicted by an activity which is detrimental to its development and whose factors of expansion are largely out of its control," stressing the harm cannabis cultivation causes to the ecosystem.

Cannabis cultivation overexploits and exhausts greatly the soil, which pushes farmers to destroy forested areas to accommodate new cannabis fields, thus accelerating soil erosion.

He said "the survey falls within a development scheme rather than a repressive one."

He indicated that the survey reveals figures "much inferior" to some estimations already made.

"Morocco has acted with courage and exposed the extent of domestic cannabis cultivation, but the question must be addressed blending demand and supply measures," Costa said. "It is Europe's turn to focus especially on preventive measures, reducing cannabis consumption among the youth."

He said "Europe's drug habits are at the heart of the illegal activity, which is explained but not justified by the poverty of the Rif population."

Maria Costa hailed "the determination of the Moroccan government to resolve this problem."