Washington, June 30, 2013 (SPS) - The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has announced, in its 2013 World Drug Report, that the Kingdom of Morocco remains the “main producer and supplier” of hashish substance (cannabis) globally, to be exported primarily to European and African markets, in particular.
This is one of the main findings of the 2013 World Drug Report, presented Friday by the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Mr. Yury Fedotov to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) on the occasion of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
The UN organization expressed concern over the impact of drugs on “vulnerable countries”, warning that the drug market is one of the main factors that continues to feed “the economic and political instability in the world”
It, in this respect, stressed the “urgent need” to help those countries in West Africa and the Sahel to prevent illicit drug use and crime that hinder sustainable development.
The seizures of hashish, It added, centralized in Central and Western Europe and in North Africa and Southwest Asia, where the report confirms that the Western and Central Europe constitute the most important market for the consumption of cannabis, which comes from Morocco.
UNODC underlined that the seizures made in Spain, estimated at 34% of the global seizures of cannabis, indicate that this country is not only a major market for the consumption hashish, coming from Morocco via sea, but it is also used as a “passageway” for Moroccan drug, which are exported to the Western and Central Europe’s market.
Concerning cannabis cultivated areas, UNODC reported that despite the political policy adopted by Moroccan authorities few years ago under pressure from the European countries, the area reserved for cannabis fields in Morocco remains the largest in the world with 47,500 hectares compared to 12,000 hectares in AfghanistanMorocco’s annual production of hashish was estimated at 38 000 tons and 760 tons of cannabis.
However, the report made it clear that the data on cannabis cultivated areas had been communicated by the Moroccan government and that the UNODC has not been authorized by Morocco to conduct an investigation on the ground since 2005, when the area was estimated at 72,500 hectares. (SPS)
090/089/TRA