Rabat - The Istiqlal Party (IP) has requested amnesty for Cannabis growers.
According to Asabah daily newspaper in its weekend issue, the parliamentary group of the Istiqlal party in the House of Representatives called in a session of the Commission of Justice and Legislation for the adoption of a bill granting amnesty to cannabis growers in the north of the kingdom.
This is not the first time that the Istiqlal party called for the legalization of cannabis. In 2013, the Party proposed a draft law to decriminalize and regulate the cultivation of cannabis for medical and pharmaceutical ends.
Noureddine Mediane, the President of the Istiqlal party group in the House of Representatives defended the legalization of cannabis cultivation in Morocco, saying that over 300,000 people continue to work in cannabis cultivation, mainly in northern Morocco.
Mediane said that his party's interest in the issue does not stem from electoral opportunism, Asabah reported.
"We do not need the votes of fugitives," he said, adding that the fact that cannabis growers fear being imprisoned is negatively affecting enrollment in the electoral roll."
The Istiqlal Party's proposed draft law aims to delimit the cultivation of cannabis to certain regions, namely Al Hoceima, Chaouen, Tétouan, Ouezzane and Taounate.
Istiqlal is not the only Moroccan political party interested in tackling the issue. The opposing Party of Authenticity and Modernity (PAM) called for the legalization of cannabis cultivation. PAM launched a parliamentary debate on the legalization of the cultivation of cannabis and called for excluding this plant from the list of illegal drugs.
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