Moroccan party leader calls for moderate consumption of cannabis

El Omari's demand for allowing the commercialization of cannabis to individual consumers marks a shift on the issue of cannabis in Morocco
Moroccan World News (Morocco)
Saturday, June 11, 2016

Ilyas El OmariIlyass El Omari, President of the Regional Council of Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima, proposed to allow cannabis to be sold legally in cafes. The Secretary General of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), one of Morocco's opposition parties, said that "the majority of the rural population, especially the area of Chefchaouen, is living directly or indirectly from cannabis," stressing that he would not let all these people "live in inequality." In an interview with Telquel, El Omari said that he would like to make it possible for the youth of the region "to be able to open cafes where they can legally sell cannabis to consumers in reasonable and specific amounts on a weekly basis."