Research paper
Hashish revival in Morocco

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2014.01.001Get rights and content

Abstract

Background

In less than a decade, Morocco reportedly saw cannabis cultivation decrease by 65%, and hashish production is widely believed to have followed the same trend. Yet large anomalies exist between the alleged fall of hashish production in Morocco and international seizure data. While no explanation for such a discrepancy existed, the main hypothesis was that cannabis cultivation and hashish production had not declined to the extent suggested by the available information.

Methods

Based on existing data, on interviews with various actors, from European police sources to Moroccan cannabis cultivators, and on field research in Morocco, this article reviews contradictory available data and confronts it with observations made in the field.

Results

In the past decade cannabis cultivation underwent radical changes that could explain the discrepancy between official Moroccan cultivation and production data on the one hand, and international seizures on the other hand. The “traditional” kif cannabis variety is being rapidly replaced by hybrids with much larger resin yields and much higher potency. This unnoticed phenomenon, which slowly started in the early 2000s, explains how a two-third decline in cannabis cultivation was at least partially compensated for by three to five-fold yield increases.

Conclusion

The fact that the massive ongoing switch to hybrid cultivation is largely unknown or unaccounted for is actually a serious issue, for it directly questions the economic strategies that are being implemented in part to reduce and suppress cannabis cultivation in the Rif.

Section snippets

About the methodology

To conduct this research, a mixed-methods approach to data collection was employed. First, a review of the (limited) existing literature on cannabis cultivation and hashish production in Morocco was conducted: academic papers, PhD theses, official reports and statistical data published in French, Spanish and English during the last decades were used to explain how and to what extent cannabis cultivation and hashish production developed and evolved in Morocco. Then, to overcome the limitation of

From kif to hashish: a brief history

Morocco is a producer of both kif and hashish, although very little kif is produced nowadays and only hashish is exported (Afsahi, 2010, Chouvy, 2008, Labrousse and Romero, 2001, Moreno, 1997, UNODC, 2003). Kif and hashish are derivatives of cannabis (Cannabis sativa or Cannabis indica) (Evans Schultes et al., 1975) whose female plants are the best producers of cannabinoids, the psychoactive compounds that are present in the plant and give cannabis and hashish their potency. Kif, from the

Ten puzzling years

According to the last UNODC survey that took place in Morocco, in 2005, only 72,500 ha of cannabis were grown in the country in 2005, potentially producing 1066 tonnes of hashish (UNODC, 2007). Cultivation had reportedly already decreased between 2003 and 2004, down to 120,500 ha, but the real decline only occurred in 2005. The fact that the extent of cannabis cultivation was officially revealed in 2003 by the UNODC most likely played a role in the decline that followed. The Moroccan authorities

The new era of hybrid cannabis and highly potent hashish

In the last few years, and as witnessed in 2013 in the Rif by the authors, the kif landrace4

A doomed revival?

Moroccan cannabis cultivation started declining when new hybrid varieties were introduced in the country. Yet correlation is not causality, and it does not seem that the cultivation decline is what caused the resort to hybrids. It is not clear what role forced eradication might have played, since it mostly took place outside of the historic cannabis zone of the Central Rif. In any case, forced eradication was stopped in 2011 (USDS, 2012) partly in reaction to the Arab Spring11

Conflict of interest

The authors confirm that there are no conflicts of interest associated with this publication and there has been no significant financial support for this work that could have influenced its outcome.

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    This article is part of the LINKSCH Research Project, funded by the European Commission. The authors wish to acknowledge the help of Laurent Appel, Laurent Laniel, Alex Marshall, Pascual Moreno, Khalid Mouna, Lluis Romero as well as a few others who cannot or do not want to be mentioned here.

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