Morocco & the exporting of Hashish to the EU

Spacer · Sep 12, 2004

Another great article

EVERY six months, near the start of a new European Union presidency, the Europeans try to discuss their "masterplan for drugs" with Morocco, the world's largest hashish exporter and the supplier of more than 70% of the EU 's own intake. To no avail. Morocco's cannabis crop is estimated to earn it over $2 billion a year, the great bulk of the money going to the traffickers--and the officials they bribe. Moreover, it provides an income for one of Morocco's poorest and most unruly regions, the Rif mountains, and sedates its sometimes rebellious 5m Berber tribesmen.

Last year, farmers gave King Mohammed a rapturous welcome when he made a trip through the cannabis heartlands of Ketama, the first monarch to visit this sweet-perfumed land in 40 years. Though he stopped short of his grandfather's custom of accepting a spliff, farmers praised his tolerance in sparing them the round of arrests that his father used to order at harvest time. As they take their machetes to the hemp, peasants say that the late rains augur a bumper crop. And the king maintains a discreet silence on his kingdom's leading hard-currency spinner.

European drug squads struggle to intercept some of the 2,000 tonnes of hashish Morocco exports each year. Moroccan customs officials at Tangier last month announced a record haul: 19 tonnes stashed in the back of a truck. But the government argues that demand, not supply, is the problem. Why punish poor Moroccans, when Europe itself is beginning to ease its bans on soft drugs?

Moroccan official figures admit that the area under cultivation has grown more than fourfold in a decade: from 11,500 hectares ( 28,500 acres ) in 1986 to 50,000 hectares in 1997. Last year, the American State Department estimated that the crop covered 80,000 hectares, flourishing behind a cover of maize along the Mediterranean coast. It is well defended against drought since 25% of the crop is irrigated, against an average for all crops of only 10%. And, say diplomats, it is even being cultivated on an EU-financed project for growing alternative crops.
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Optimolife · Sep 12, 2004

I guess my next trip will be Ketama, Morocco!!!

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Morocco & the exporting of Hashish to the EU

Spacer 'Enlighten yourself'

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Morocco & the exporting of Hashish to the EU

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