The Economist - USA (2021-07-10)

46 MiddleEast&Africa TheEconomistJuly10th 2021

CannabisinMorocco

Highinthe

mountains

F

ewcountriesproducemorecannabis

thanMorocco,wherelocalsmixitwith

tobaccoandcallitkif, meaning“supreme

happiness”.Thepleasure extendsto Eu­

rope,wheremuchofthecannabisendsup.

FarmersintheRif,a poormountainousre­

gioninnorthernMorocco,producemost

ofthesupply.Theyoperateina legalgrey

area.Growingcannabisisagainstthelaw

inMorocco,butit istoleratedintheRif.

Abillpassedbyparliament,butyetto

beapprovedbytheking,mayclarifythe

situation,atleastsomewhat.Itwouldle­

galisethecultivation,useandexportof

cannabisformedicalandindustrialpur­

poses(suchasforhempintextiles).The

proposedlaw,though,wouldnotlegalise

cannabisforrecreationaluse.Andit would

allowcannabisfarmingonlyincertainre­

gionsofthecountry,suchastheRif.

The Rif has little else going for it.

“There’snoinfrastructure,noschools,no

hospitals,nothing—nothingexceptcanna­

bis,”saysCharifAdardak,who headsan

ngothatpromotesdevelopmentintheRif.

It haslongbeena restiveplaceowingtothe

government’sneglectandwhatlocalscall

hogra(humiliatingtreatmentbythestate).

Thepreviousking,HassanII,crusheda re­

voltthereinthe1950s.Hisson,Muham­

madVI,hasbeenmoreconciliatory,back­

ingdevelopmentprojectsintheregion.

ButKingMuhammad’splanshavenot

gotveryfar. LargeprotestsbyRiffiansinre­

centyearshave attimesturnedviolent.

Theregionstillreliesoncannabisproduc­

tion.Thegovernment,inturn,seesitstol­

eranceofthetradeasa waytobuypeace.

OneofthereasonsMoroccoismoving

towardslegalisationnowisbecauseinDe­

cembertheunremovedcannabisforme­

dicinalusefromitslistofthemostdanger­

ousdrugs.Theproposedlawwillimprove

thelotofRiffiansandfreethemfrominter­

national drug­smuggling networks,says

AbdelouafiLaftit,Morocco’sinteriormin­

ister.Regulatingthetrademayalsoallow

the government to curb environmental

damageintheRif,whichhassufferedfrom

deforestation and soil degradation as

farmershaveadoptednew,hybridstrains

ofcannabis.

ManycannabisfarmersintheRifthink

thegovernmentisblowingsmoke.Some

feartheywillberunoutofbusinessbycor­

porationsorwell­connectedbusinessmen

whoarebetterabletonavigatetherules.

Farmers intheRif areunaccustomedto

growingcannabistothestrictlegalstan­

dardsthatimportingcountriesoftenim­

poseonthemedicinalsort.

Othersworryaboutfuturecompetition

fromotherregions.Thereisn’tenoughde­

mandformedicalcannabistokeepeven

theRif’sfarmersinbusiness.Cannabisis

grownon73,000hectaresoflandinMo­

rocco, says TomBlickman oftheTrans­

nationalInstitute,a Dutchthink­tank. De­

mandformedicalcannabismightsupport

between5,000and8,000hectares.

Demandisgreaterforindustrialcanna­

bis,butitisoflowervalue.Itsproduction

is “about quantitynotquality”, says Mr

Blickman.That’sbadfortheRif.Tucked

away inthemountains, theregion’sre­

motenessandinaccessibilitymakeitan

idealplaceforillicitcannabisfarming.But

theproduction ofindustrial cannabisis

easierinflatareaswithbetterinfrastruc­

turethatcansupportlargefarms.

PeopleintheRifarealsofrustratedthat

theproposedlawdoesnotprovideamnes­

tyfortheroughly48,000farmerswhohave

cannabis­relatedarrestwarrantshanging

overthem.Some,though,seethelawasa

preludetolegalisationofrecreationalcan­

nabis.ThatwouldmakemanyMoroccans

supremelyhappy. n

Apushtolegalisesomemarijuana

cultivationworriesfarmers

Tangier

ALGERIA

SPAIN

Rabat Cannabiscultivationarea

ATLANTIC

OCEAN

MOROCCO

MediterraneanSea

Source:GlobalInitiative

Ri

fm

ount

ains

100 km

More than a medicine

Eswatini

The king’s reply

T

habani nkomonyewas last seen alive

on May 8th. A few days later the body of

the 25­year­old law student was found in a

field near Manzini in Eswatini. The police

say he died in a car crash. Friends and fam­

ily say the police killed him.

Mr Nkomonye’s death has sparked prot­

ests across the country of 1.2m people. On

June  29th,  after  demonstrations  intensi­

fied,  the  government  announced  a  dusk­

to­dawn  curfew  and  shut  off  the  internet.

Swazi  journalists  say  that  doctors  have

confirmed at least 50 deaths at the hands of

security  forces.  The  government  says  that

27 people have died and that its forces were

defending themselves and private proper­

ty against “rioters and foreign agents”.

In many ways the protests are like those

elsewhere in Africa. “There are no jobs and

opportunities  for  young  people,”  says  Xo­

lani Maseko, the president of the union of

students. More than 46% of 15­ to 24­year­

olds  are  unemployed,  the  third­highest

rate  in  the  world.  What  distinguishes  Es­

watini is the protests’ target, King Mswati

III, Africa’s last absolute monarch.

That he rules at all is a historical curios­

ity. Britain, the colonial power, left in 1968,

perfunctorily bequeathing a Westminster­

style system. Five years later the then king,

Sobhuza  II,  revoked  the  constitution  and

declared  “supreme  power”.  After  Sobhuza

died  in  1982  elders  of  the  ruling  Dlamini

clan picked as heir his 14­year­old illegiti­

mate  son,  whom  they  hoped  to  control.

The future King Mswati III was brought in­

to  the  royal  kraal,  says  a  confidant,  and

told,  “From  now  on  you  call  your  mother

‘Queen Mother’.” She had been a cleaner for

one  of  Sobhuza’s  65  wives,  according  to  a

report  published  in  2013  by  Freedom

House,  an  American  think­tank.  The  boy­

king  was  sent  to  boarding  school  in  Eng­

land, returning to sit on the throne in 1986.

Though  analysts  speculate  about  how

much the king himself calls the shots, the

monarchy  certainly  operates  unchecked.

Mswati  is  immune  from  prosecution.  Po­

litical  parties  are  banned.  Opposition  ac­

tivists are jailed. Journalists are intimidat­

ed; on July 4th reporters from New Frame,

a South African publication, were taken to

a police station and allegedly tortured with

plastic bags over their heads. The king (pic­

tured  on  next  page)  appoints  the  prime

minister and other key office­holders. 

Most Swazis are poor but the king’s for­

tune,  which  in  2014  Forbesmagazine  esti­

MBABANE

Africa’s last absolute monarch cracks

down on pro-democracy protesters