Cannabis — Morocco

Cannabis is illegal to possess or use in Morocco. The 2021 cannabis law legalised only licensed farming and industry for medical, pharmaceutical and industrial products in three northern provinces — it did not legalise recreational or personal use, and its article 50 expressly re-applies the penalties of the 1974 narcotics law to any unlicensed cannabis activity. Under that law, unlawfully using cannabis carries 2 months to 1 year in prison and a fine of 500 to 50,000 dirhams, while unlawfully holding or transporting it carries 5 to 10 years and a fine of 5,000 to 500,000 dirhams — so the offence you are charged with matters more than the quantity you have, and carrying cannabis through a Moroccan airport is itself punishable as transporting it. Morocco publishes no amount below which possession is tolerated.

Morocco's 2021 cannabis law does not itself set the penalties for illegal cannabis: article 50 of Law 13-21 expressly re-applies the penalties and security measures of the 1974 narcotics dahir (No. 1-73-282 of 21 May 1974) to anyone who cultivates, produces, processes, manufactures, transports, markets, exports or imports cannabis, its products, seeds or plants without a valid licence from the agency. Under that dahir, unlawfully using a substance or plant classified as a narcotic is punished by 2 months to 1 year in prison and a fine of 500 to 50,000 dirhams, or only one of those two penalties (art. 8) — but unlawfully importing, producing, manufacturing, transporting, exporting or holding one is punished by 5 to 10 years and a fine of 5,000 to 500,000 dirhams (art. 2). Which of those you are charged with therefore matters far more than how much you are carrying, and because transporting appears in the same article as importing, carrying cannabis through Morocco is itself an offence. Facilitating another person's use, whether paid or free and including by providing a place for it, carries 2 to 10 years and a fine of 5,000 to 500,000 dirhams, with the minimum raised to 5 years where the user is 21 or younger (art. 3). Inciting any of these offences, or inciting drug use, carries 1 to 5 years and 500 to 50,000 dirhams (art. 4). An attempt is punished exactly as the completed offence, as is taking part in an association formed to commit one (art. 5), and the court may additionally order a residence ban of 5 to 20 years (art. 7). Growing cannabis outside an authorised perimeter or beyond the authorised area is separately punished by 3 months to 2 years and a fine of 5,000 to 100,000 dirhams (Law 13-21 art. 51), and every penalty in articles 50 to 54 is doubled on a repeat offence within five years (art. 55).

Verified Aug 31, 2026