Cannabis Crackdown: Morocco Revokes 111 Licenses Amid Industry Boom
The Minister of the Interior, Abdelouafi Laftit, revealed that 111 operating licenses had been withdrawn in 2025 for non-compliance with regulations. This measure follows more than 5,430 control operations carried out until August by the National Agency for the Regulation of Cannabis-Related Activities (ANRAC), which aim to ensure compliance with standards at all stages, from cultivation to export.
This regulatory firmness is part of a context of massive expansion of the sector. According to the minister, the number of farmers engaged in the industry has been multiplied by more than ten between 2023 and 2025, from 430 to more than 7,000. At the same time, the cultivated area has been multiplied by more than twenty, from 192 to 4,729 hectares.
This growth is mainly concentrated in three northern provinces: Taounate, Al Hoceïma and Chefchaouen. In total, 235 licenses were granted in 2025 to 165 operators for processing, marketing, seed import or transport activities.
According to the minister, the objective of this program is to offer a transition to farmers to move them away from illegal networks towards a structured sector, guaranteeing their rights. To this end, the Agency is carrying out support actions on the ground, such as awareness-raising meetings to help with the creation of cooperatives and the preparation of files. It has also supported the construction of eight processing units in the province of Taounate.
