HuffPost Morocco: Why are you decriminalizing cannabis?
Mehdi Bensaid: I am in favor of the legalization of the cultivation of cannabis for therapeutic or industrial purposes. Today, this plant has demonstrated that it can be used for purposes other than "recreational", such as processing into medicines or textile products, such as shoes and clothing. Several countries in the world, such as Canada, Switzerland and the United States, have already shown the many medical virtues of this plant.
So you do not want legalization of cannabis for consumers?
Personally, I am not against cannabis use, but there are priorities. The first step is to allow the cultivation of cannabis for therapeutic and industrial purposes. Then we have to open the debate on personal consumption: what quantities, what legal framework, etc. But this is a second step.
What would Morocco gain by legalizing cannabis?
In the north of Morocco, many families grow this plant, it is a way to earn a living. They do not do it for harmful purposes. The government's proposal to replace the cultivation of these plants did not really work. We must find a solution so that everyone can win: citizens but also the state. It would also be a way to combat illegal trafficking. If we do not have official figures on what it reports, given that it is prohibited, it is certain that this plant could yield a significant VAT for the State. What is the status of the two bills that you have tabled in this regard? We have already presented two bills, and the Istiqlal has done the same. A first to pardon the farmers who have cultivated cannabis for years, and a second that proposes legalization for therapeutic and industrial purposes. It is important to emphasize this because some traffickers, who prefer not to see this law enter Parliament, say that the drug risks being legalized everywhere as is the case for example in the Netherlands. But we are still very far away.
What about families who live off this culture?
Today, 80,000 families live from the cultivation of cannabis. If we legalize cannabis for therapeutic and industrial purposes, farmers will finally be able to work and live legally. The idea is also to create a state agency that would buy the plant and then sell it back to the pharmaceutical companies that would be interested, for example, on the domestic or international market. Foreign companies could even invest in Morocco. The agency would act as an intermediary, in order to regulate this market and so that the State is responsible for this new product. Now, there will certainly be a black market that will have to continue to fight.