As the New Zealand government announces its plans for a cannabis referendum, a self-described “cannabis master” who grows and sells marijuana, provides insight into the illegal business he’s running, and what a workable legitimate business model could look like.  If recreational use becomes legal, he wants to be part of the change. It will allow growers and sellers like him – those he describes as “ninjas or living double lives” – to stop hiding. He said they'd come out of the woodwork and contribute to a new, legal market and would apply for a licence. (See also: New Zealand Drug Foundation is backing a Yes vote)

St Vincent’s Medicinal Marijuana industry is a go. Over 30 licences have been approved by the Medicinal Cannabis Authority (MCA) for the cultivation, development and export of medicinal marijuana products. The MCA has approved licences for eight local farmers’ producer cooperatives with an aggregated membership of over 100 traditional cultivators; traditional cultivators of cannabis who applied individually; three non-traditional local farmers; and 10 companies with the directorship of nationals from the OECS, CARICOM, North America, Europe and Africa. MCA said based on the applications under review it projects that by September an additional 200 traditional cultivators will obtain cultivation licences. (See also: Vincy ‘high’ | Acres Agricultural Canada receives 300-acre cannabis license)

La tremenda situación de inestabilidad política, social y económica que está azotando a Líbano y que se considera la peor desde la cruenta guerra civil que duró 15 largos años (1975/1990), está empujando a muchos agricultores libaneses a pasarse al cultivo de cannabis, ya que su producción es mucho más barata y se obtiene de ella un mayor beneficio. Los campesinos, debido a la devaluación de la libra libanesa que ha dejado a la mitad de la población del país sumido en la pobreza, no pueden permitirse asumir los costes de los fertilizantes, las semillas o los pesticidas para la producción de frutas y verduras que se importan desde otros países.

La Cámara de Diputados presentó cambios a la minuta que reforma las normas de salud, seguridad y genera una nueva ley en materia de regulación de cannabis en México, enviada por el Senado de la República en noviembre. Las Comisiones de Justicia y Salud de la Cámara de Diputados circularon el proyecto de modificaciones al texto que en el Senado obtuvo una mayoría. Entre esos cambios destaca el que define el consumo de cannabis como un derecho de los ciudadanos mexicanos, la eliminación de un instituto regulador e introduce la posibilidad de adquirir licencias que permitan a grandes empresas sembrar, producir y vender cannabis y sus derivados. (Véase también: Aprobarán en la Cámara de Diputados uso lúdico de la mariguana el próximo lunes)

La Asociación de Desarrollo Comunitario de Agüerito y la empresa Granja Madre establecieron un convenio de cooperación para desarrollar el cultivo de cannabis con fines medicinales. El aceite cannábico será presentado bajo la marca “Kokuesero”. El objetivo es desarrollar el aceite cannábico artesanal e iniciar la venta a nivel nacional. El convenio establece el relacionamiento entre las partes donde resalta la asistencia técnica, canal de comercialización y entrega de semillas por parte de la firma Granja Madre.</p><p>Representes de las siete bases que integran las comunidades de Agüerito y Tava Guaraní estuvieron presentes. El proyecto cuenta con un fuerte respaldo de productores campesinos que pretenden contar con un rubro de cultivo alternativo.

The President of the Cannabis Revival Committee (CRC) in St Vincent and Grenadines, Junior “Spirit” Cottle, is urging farmers not to accept anything less than EC$300 (EC dollar = US$0.37 cents) for a pound after a locally-based medicinal cannabis company was offering US$50 a pound. “We are not saying we are not going higher. But we are not going below that. And, under the medical industry, we're looking for more than that. We will be negotiating but, as it stands now, under the amnesty, it mustn't go below that,” Cottle said. The CRC called on traditional cultivators of cannabis “to be on the lookout for some foreign investors who want to offer them lower than the unofficial EC$300 minimum which they have been receiving for one pound of cannabis”. (See also: Reject $50 ganja offer — MP)

Au début de l’été, le conseil de Tanger-Tétouan-Al Hoceïma a voté en faveur de la commande d’une étude sur les opportunités de cultiver du cannabis dans la région. Le rapport serait confié à l’Institut scientifique de l’Université Mohammed V à Rabat, pour un coût avoisinant le million de dirhams (plus de 90 000 euros), mais le ministère de l’Intérieur doit encore donner son feu vert. Abdellatif Adebibe, président d’une association de la région et fervent partisan de la légalisation de la production, met en garde. Une légalisation de la culture ne signifierait pas une amélioration rapide des conditions de vie des paysans. Il plaide pour une culture « restreinte à la région productrice historique, le Rif, où elle s’accorde avec un mode de vie ».

A la vielle de la promulgation de la loi sur les usages légaux, la Coordination des zones d'origine du cannabis, qui se compose d'agriculteurs et de descendants de cultivateurs de cannabis dans les régions historiques des provinces d'Al Hoceima et de Chefchaouen est mobilisée. Elle a, en effet, rencontré tous les partis politiques représentés à la Chambre des représentants pour leur présenter son mémorandum. La coordination défend aussi l’usage récréatif du cannabis. «Cela se fera à l'image des pays ayant légalisé le cannabis», explique ce membre qui ajoute qu’il s’agit d’un «marché noir que l’Etat doit exploiter, sinon il tombera entres les mains de barons, de gangs et de cartels». (Lire aussi: Abdelouafi Laftit sur la légalisation du cannabis : “Nous n'avons plus de temps à perdre”)

Les cultivateurs du cannabis ont récemment reçu la visite d’une délégation de la Commission spéciale du modèle de développement, conduite par le président Chakib Benmoussa, rapporte Al Massae. Ces derniers leur ont affirmé qu’ils ne vivent que de la culture et de la vente à l’état brut du kif. Leurs porte-paroles ont fait une proposition aux membres de la Commission. Ils souhaitent que le nouveau modèle propose clairement la légalisation de la culture de cannabis dans la région nord du Maroc, ou il l’interdit une bonne fois pour toutes, à condition qu’il leur propose une alternative qui doit être une source de revenu sûre et durable à même d’améliorer les conditions de vie précaires des habitants de la région. (Lire aussi: Le Maroc prépare sa position par rapport aux recommandations de l'OMS)

Marruecos, principal productor mundial del cannabis, se dispone a legalizar ciertos usos "médicos e industriales" de la planta, según un proyecto de ley presentado hoy en el Consejo de Gobierno y que será previsiblemente aprobado la semana próxima. Tras varias décadas de prohibición absoluta, que mantienen teóricamente en la ilegalidad a cerca de 100.000 familias que viven del cultivo del kif, sobre todo en las montañas del Rif, Marruecos se suma así a una tendencia mundial de despenalización controlada, pero excluyendo los "usos recreativos". La ley establece que los agricultores que quieran pasar a la legalidad deberán formar cooperativas, que a su vez venderán su producción a una agencia nacional que tendrá el monopolio de la transformación y comercialización del producto final.

It's the moment for which advocates of legal marijuana here have been waiting: Mexican lawmakers, working under a court order, have until mid-December to finalize rules that will make the country the world's largest market for legal pot. Advocates have long argued that legalization would put a dent in the black market; allow for safe, regulated consumption; create jobs; and cut down on crime. But rather than counting down the days with glee, they’re waging an 11th-hour campaign to change legislation that they say would favor large corporations over small businesses and family-owned farms, while doing little to address the issues at the root of the country’s illegal drug trade.

Mexico is on the verge of becoming the third country in the world, after Uruguay and Canada, to legally regulate cannabis for personal, adult use. This comes after years of strategic litigation, a landmark Supreme Court declaration and a legislative process of over two years in the Senate. The country can almost taste legal regulation. It was a long and winding road to get this point. As the world’s second-largest producer of illicit cannabis and one of the countries most harmed by prohibition, Mexico approaches legal regulation with specific objectives—primarily of freeing up state resources that have been badly used to implement prohibition and of increasing social justice. But moving from discourse and rhetoric to affirmative actions and justice mechanisms can be complicated.

Morocco’s rugged Rif Mountains have long been renowned for their cannabis but traditional varieties are being smoked out by foreign hybrids offering higher yields and greater potency. The local strain of marijuana, known as Beldiya, is coveted by afficionados but is gradually disappearing from the fields. Nowadays in Ketama, a region in the heart of the northern Rif, a strain called “Critical” is king. Major cannabis producers decide what to plant and “hybrid plants have become a market all on their own,” said Moroccan anthropologist Khalid Mouna, who has written a thesis on the economics of Ketama’s cannabis production. Critical, which Mouna said comes from the Netherlands, is the latest hybrid created in laboratories in Europe or North America to be introduced to Morocco.

Morocco’s government adopted bill 13-21, intending to legalize the production of cannabis for medicinal and therapeutic use in its weekly meeting after a few weeks of discussion. After the approval, Morocco will be among the first countries on the African continent to permit the use of cannabis for medical and therapeutic purposes. Observers were certain Morocco would make such a move after the country voted to remove cannabis from the list of the UN’s Schedule IV category of drugs that have limited or no therapeutic use. The North African country was the only member of the UN Commission on Narcotics Drugs (NCD) in the MENA to vote in favor of the cannabis’ removal from the list of toxic substances. (See also: Morocco’s new cannabis legalization bill explained)

Few countries produce more cannabis than Morocco, where locals mix it with tobacco and call it kif, meaning “supreme happiness”. The pleasure extends to Europe, where much of the cannabis ends up. Farmers in the Rif, a poor mountainous region in northern Morocco, produce most of the supply. They operate in a legal grey area. Growing cannabis is against the law in Morocco, but it is tolerated in the Rif. A bill passed by parliament, but yet to be approved by the king, may clarify the situation, at least somewhat. It would legalise the cultivation, use and export of cannabis for medical and industrial purposes (such as for hemp in textiles). The proposed law, though, would not legalise cannabis for recreational use. And it would allow cannabis farming only in certain regions of the country, such as the Rif.

Morocco has ratified the legislative changes required to start the country’s promising domestic legal cannabis industry for medical and export purposes. The prospect of legalizing Moroccan cannabis products has long captivated investors in the rapidly growing global Cannabis industry, given Morocco’s historic reputation for quality cannabis production. Given Morocco’s various free trade agreements and expertise in cultivating the plant, the decree aims to move large parts of the illicit cannabis market out of the shadows, and into the spotlight of international investors and consumers. 

2023 may be the year of his first legal cannabis harvest in Morocco. After years of semi-underground, Aziz has decided to move over to "the legal side." The farmer from the Rif, a mountainous region in northern Morocco that is home to one of the world's largest cannabis-producing areas, intends to turn his back on drug traffickers and sell his kif to companies involved in the manufacture of cannabis products. "Two Americans came to the village a few days ago," he said. "They want to build a factory in the area and will need large quantities. They are interested in our plants. We haven't talked about price yet." "What I fear is that the benefits will go to the state, laboratories and multinationals and that we will be left behind," said Farid, in his fifties, who grows kif in a nearby village.

The government of Morocco approved a law to allow the cultivation, export and use of cannabis for medicine or industry. Parliament looks likely to ratify it, despite the issue dividing the governing coalition’s biggest party. The change is meant to improve the lot of farmers in the often restive Rif region where it has been grown for decades, and to tap into a growing global market for legal cannabis. But the law has divided Rif farmers, who fear it will do nothing to address a years-long slide in their income or help them escape outstanding arrest warrants. Some want the law to allow recreational cannabis use and its processing into more lucrative resin - “hashish”. Others want its cultivation limited to their region alone. (See also: Cannabis: «moi, Abdeslam, cultivateur de kif, voici ce que ça me coûte»)

The Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) and the State have been accused of having no real interest in ensuring that small farmers get their fair share of the legal marijuana pie, as pilot cultivation programmes have been allowed to fall by the wayside and emphasis placed on heavy regulation. This sentiment was expressed by Government and Opposition politicians at a meeting of the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC), which had in attendance senior representatives of the CLA and its parent ministry. The pilot project for cultivation launched in Accompong, St Elizabeth crashed out with the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic, while that planned for Orange Hill, Westmoreland did not get off the ground due to problems with land access.