Morocco's king pardons more than 4,800 cannabis farmers

Morocco's King Mohammed VI has pardoned more than 4,800 farmers accused of illegally growing cannabis, according to the justice ministry.
The monarch "has kindly granted pardon to 4,831 people convicted,
prosecuted or wanted in cases linked to the cultivation of cannabis," the
ministry said in a statement, as reported by AFP.

Morocco is the world's leading cannabis producer, according to the United Nations. It adopted a law in 2021 on the production and medical use of the drug, authorizing its cultivation in rural provinces in the northeastern Rif region.