International Reports: Morocco Is The Largest Producer Of Cannabis Worldwide

All international reports on the world’s drug producers confirm that Morocco is the largest producer of cannabis worldwide.

It makes use of 700 tons of drugs to gain $23 billion, or 23% of Morocco’s gross domestic product, as it exports “Moroccan hashish” to 23 million Europeans.
Morocco maintained its position as the world’s largest producer of cannabis, according to the United Nations’ Office for Drugs’ Control (UNODC) report 2017.
Morocco said that in 2015, the area under which cannabis was cultivated was 47,000 hectares, but over 147 hectares, or 2.4% of the total cultivated area was destroyed.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in its report that the Kingdom’s production of cannabis reached 38.000 tons annually, while the production volume in the covered areas was 760 tons, adding that a large part of the produced quantity is exported to Europe and North Africa.
Morocco is a central country in the global trade of cannabis, this was confirmed by the same source.
“Morocco is the first source of this drug to Europe. It is smuggled to Spain and by land to France, Italy and the Netherlands for distribution throughout Europe”.
The report states that Moroccan cannabis is also smuggled to North African countries, according to Europol.
The same data was provided by the US State Department in its 2017 report on the drug trade through the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Office in Washington, said that Morocco is the world’s largest producer and exporter of cannabis.
It monitored the development of cannabis production in 2015 and 2016, saying that the production reached 700.000 tons.
The report shows that Morocco becomes a route for the transit for cocaine that is coming from the continent of South America and destined for Europe.
“Over 25% of Moroccan prisoners were arrested over drug cases, while the prevalence of cocaine and heroin remained limited, given the relatively high prices of these drugs”.
The European Drug Observatory confirmed that 23.5 million Europeans consumed the “Moroccan cannabis” and its derivatives only in last year.
The cannabis trade accounts for about 38% of the drug trade in Europe with an estimated value of 9.3 billion euros.
According to the European Observatory’s report for the current year, most cannabis (and its derivatives are coming from Europe that is originating from Morocco), adding that 87.7 million Europeans have consumed cannabis at least once in their lives, and most of them are 53 million men and the rest are females.
Number of cannabis consumers increased from 22 million adults in 2015 to 23.5 million last year.
The report warned of the new technologies that are used in Morocco to increase the productivity of cannabis.
According to the same source, the quantities of cannabis and its derivatives increased significantly in recent years, adding that Spain is the gate of Moroccan cannabis that is destined for Europe, and in 2015 it was 70% of cannabis that was seized in Europe.
Cannabis is the most common drug in Europe, followed by cocaine and the substance that is manufactured from ecstasy, with cannabis accounting for 70% of the total drugs that are consumed in Europe, while cocaine represents 9%, counting 17 million European consumers in 2015, while heroine does not exceed 5%.