
Morocco's Cannabis Reform: Why Small Farmers Are Left Behind
In the Rif Mountains of northern Morocco, thousands of families have grown cannabis for generations, and most still live in precarious conditions despite a 2021 law legalizing the crop for medicinal use. The film travels to Azila, a village entirely dependent on the trade, where farmers are permitted to grow cannabis but not to sell it, and anyone caught trading outside the legal system still risks prison. Water shortages from a changing climate sharpen competition over land, and the film shows how the best-producing plots are falling into the hands of a few large operators while small growers are squeezed out by strict pharmaceutical quality standards and inspection costs they cannot meet. Farmers and officials describe why legalization has moved far slower than promised, with far fewer participants than expected. Interviews also surface widespread distrust of the state, allegations of corruption, and police who profit from the illegal trade continuing alongside it. The documentary lays out the gap between the law on paper and the economics still governing the mountains.