Since he started growing cannabis at 14, Mohamed Makhlouf has lived in the shadows, losing sleep while bracing for a knock on his door from authorities that could mean prison or his entire harvest confiscated.

But after decades of operating in secret, Makhlouf finally has gained peace of mind as Morocco expands legal cultivation and works to integrate veteran growers like him into the formal economy.

On his farmland deep in the Rif Mountains, stalks of a government-approved cannabis strain rise from the earth in dense clusters. He notices when police pass on a nearby road. But where the crop’s aroma once meant danger, today there is no cause for concern. They know he sells to a local cooperative.

“Legalization is freedom,” Makhlouf said. “If you want your work to be clean, you work with the companies and within the law.”

The 70-year-old Makhlouf’s story mirrors the experience of a small but growing number of farmers who started in Morocco’s vast black market but now sell legally to cooperatives producing cannabis for medicinal and industrial use.


Morocco is the world’s biggest producer of cannabis and top supplier of the resin used to make hashish. For years, authorities have oscillated between looking the other way and cracking down, even as the economy directly or indirectly supports hundreds of thousands of people in the Rif Mountains, according to United Nations reports and government data.

Abdelsalam Amraji, another cannabis farmer who joined the legal industry, said the crop is crucial to keeping the community afloat.

“Local farmers have tried cultivating wheat, nuts, apples, and other crops, but none have yielded viable results,” he said.

The region is known as an epicenter of anti-government sentiment and growers have lived for years with arrest warrants hanging over them. They avoided cities and towns. Many saw their fields burned in government campaigns targeting cultivation.

Though cannabis can fetch higher prices on the black market, the decreased risk is worth it, Amraji said.

“Making money in the illegal field brings fear and problems,” he said. “When everything is legal, none of that happens.”

Morocco aims to boost legal cannabis farming and tap a global boom

“Accelerating crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law: protecting people and planet and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the digital age.”

The Fifteenth Crime Congress will be held from 25 to 30 April 2026 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates under the overall theme “Accelerating crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law: protecting people and planet and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the digital age”, in line with the General Assembly resolution 

High-level segment (Heads of State, Ministers, etc.)

Single declaration, later reviewed by the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

Regional preparatory meetings starting in 2025

Emphasis on participation of least developed countries, civil society, academia, and NGOs

Encourages early preparation by Member States and creation of national preparatory committees

15th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

Executions for drug-related charges in 2024

Drug-related executions have been steadily rising since 2021. Those executed for drug-related charges are from marginalised and deprived communities and amongst the most voiceless victims of the death penalty in Iran. Along with security charges, drug-related charges fall under the jurisdiction of the Revolutionary Courts which systematically deny defendants their rights to due process and a fair trial. According to reports gathered by IHRNGO, at least 503 people were executed for drug-related offences in 2024. 

Facts and figures about drug-related executions in 2024

At least 503 people were executed, representing a 6.6% rise compared to 2023 (471) and about 20 times the number of drug-related executions recorded in 2020. 

Only 15 drug-related executions were announced by official sources. 

Executions took place in 27 different provinces. 

Baluch minorities, who make up 2-6% of Iran’s population, are overrepresented with 85 executions (17%) compared to 31% (138) in 2023, 47% (121) in 2022 and 43% (55) in 2021. 

12 women were executed for drug-related offences

Annual report on the death penalty in Iran 2024

In recent weeks, escalating military actions by Israeli occupying forces across many regions in Lebanon have severely impacted the local communities, resulting in over 2,700 casualties and over 12,000 injuries as well as over 1.2 million displaced to date.

The current conflict has significantly affected Skoun — a leading harm reduction, treatment and education nonprofit.

Many of Skoun's services have been rendered unsafe due to nearby strikes. The escalating violence has pushed the organisation into crisis, amidst catastrophic impacts for people in Lebanon.

84% of Skoun's opioid agonist therapy (OAT) clients have been displaced, hindering their access to essential treatment and support systems, and increasing reliance on riskier coping mechanisms, including in relation to drug use.

Amidst the ongoing turmoil, funding priorities have shifted to respond to increasingly unmet basic needs. Specialised services, like Skoun, are underfunded, and their important services jeopardised. Service users, whose needs are compounded in these circumstances, risk being pushed further into situations of vulnerability.

Kindly consider supporting Skoun's work by donating here.

Urgent support needed amidst escalations in Lebanon

The Taliban have launched a campaign against the country’s illegal narcotics industry, rounding up drug users, destroying opium poppy and cannabis fields, and arresting some traders. Driven by religious ideology, their initiative strikes at the backbone of Afghanistan’s informal economy and the livelihoods of the rural poor.

 The ban has drastically reduced cultivation, but Afghan-produced drugs are still hitting the global market as dealers continue selling stockpiles and some farmers resist the ban. The Taliban’s crackdown has devastated the economic outlook for farmers and rural labourers with few other employment options. Women have been particularly affected.

 The Taliban should be lenient with the poorest farmers as it implements the ban. The anti-drug initiative is in many foreign actors’ interest, creating opportunities for donors to support Afghanistan’s economic stabilisation. Licit crops will not offer sufficient employment, so the focus should be on job creation in non-farm industries.

Launched soon after they retook power in 2021, the Taliban’s campaign against narcotics has drastically reduced opium poppy cultivation and upended Afghanistan’s drug economy. Driven by ideology, the Taliban’s anti-drug efforts include rounding up drug users, eradicating crops, and shuttering drug bazaars. The Taliban’s enforcement impacts the livelihoods of millions of people, particularly poor labourers and rural women. Wealthy traders, meanwhile, are profiting from high prices by selling existing stocks. Many farmers have switched to crops such as wheat, but struggle with the reduced income. The ban’s future is uncertain; although the Taliban are adamant about implementing it, it could collapse under the weight of economic hardship. Foreign donors, who have much to gain from reduced drug production in Afghanistan, should harness the Taliban’s zeal for counter-narcotics and encourage licit economic growth. In the meantime, the Taliban should consider the welfare of the poorest farmers and implement a phased approach to the ban.

Implemented with growing seriousness, the Taliban’s anti-narcotics campaign has profoundly affected a country that ranks among the world’s largest suppliers of illegal drugs. The main focus has been opium, a central part of Afghanistan’s agricultural sector. Enforcement began slowly, but has grown stricter. Taliban forces started with easy targets, herding drug users into jails and rehabilitation centres. They then warned farmers not to cultivate the opium poppies whose resin they have harvested for centuries. When that failed, the Taliban deployed fighters to face down villagers and destroy their crops. As a result, the UN estimates, cultivation declined by 95 per cent – more than any other counter-narcotics campaign in recent history. The Taliban also started to apply pressure on traffickers, despite the fact that some of them backed their movement for decades. More recently the de facto authorities shut down drug bazaars and arrested hundreds of dealers.

Trouble in Afghanistan’s opium fields: The Taliban's war on drugs

Morocco's progress in cannabis policy has led the King to pardon thousands of cannabis farmers in the North African country.

Moroccan King Mohammed VI on Monday pardoned over 4,800 people convicted, prosecuted, or wanted in cases related to cannabis cultivation.

This decision coincides with this year's anniversary of the King and People's Revolution.

King Mohammed VI has issued an order to pardon a group of individuals, including both detainees and those at large, who were sentenced by various courts across the Kingdom.

Among those pardoned are 4,831 people involved in cases related to cannabis cultivation who meet the necessary conditions for pardon.

In addition to its humanitarian aspects, this gesture also reflects Morocco's evolving cannabis policy in recent years, as it will allow those affected to integrate into the new strategy adopted by the involved regions, which is expected to have a significant economic and social impact and contribute to the development of alternative crops and non-agricultural activities, according to the justice ministry's statement.

King of Morocco pardons over 4,800 cannabis farmers

23 July 2024, Kabul, Afghanistan – Substance use and substance use disorders remain a significant public health burden in Afghanistan, devastating families and communities across the country. Substance use claims hundreds of lives each year, with substance dependence among women on the rise.

Since 2023, WHO has played an important role in improving the public health response to substance use disorders in Afghanistan. WHO has supported community-based efforts to prevent initiation of substance use; has integrated mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services into general health programmes; and has provided quality treatment for those in need. It has done so thanks to support from donors like the European Union and partners like the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

WHO Afghanistan has further provided strong support to specialized centres for the treatment and rehabilitation of people with substance use disorders. In 2023, these efforts helped about 1000 people to complete residential treatment and move into the relapse prevention phase, during which they receive ongoing support to reintegrate into their communities.

This approach is based on evidence that a substance use disorder is a chronic disease that can be prevented and treated. It is inspired by the lives of people who have benefited from evidence-based treatment and harm reduction interventions, allowing them to rebuild their lives.

Abdul Rahim Rajaye, aged 62 years, is one of those people who has turned his life around. As founder and chief executive of the Bridge Hope Health Organization (BHHO), a nongovernmental organization (NGO), he now dedicates himself to helping others do the same.

Each June, Abdul Rahim and BHHO mark the Support. Don’t Punish Global Day of Action. This global campaign calls for better drug policies that focus on health and human rights instead of punishing people who use drugs. With its emphasis on support and rehabilitation over punishment, the campaign serves as an alternative to the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.


WHO strengthens public health response to substance use in Afghanistan

How we think about, regulate, moralise or criminalise drugs is often not a response to domestic considerations, but a negotiation with global forces in an uneven international environment. Drug control in Lebanon is no exception to this rule. Its policies, since their inception, are the result of colonial and neo-colonial impositions and local resistance to these international impositions.

The colonial roots of drug policies are clear in Lebanon. The first drug control imperatives were introduced under the French mandate in the 1920s. In fact, the 1922 

 of the League of Nations that put Lebanon and Syria under French rule specifically mentions in article 12 that France will adhere, on behalf of the countries under its mandate, to conventions related to “drug trafficking” among other things.

The imposition of prohibitionist policies had to contend with the reality that 

 of Lebanon’s economy was reliant on cannabis. As a result of the decline of the silk industry in the early 20th century, many farmers resorted to cannabis cultivation, which had been part of the Lebanese agricultural landscape for centuries. French authorities were 

 by local politicians for prohibiting cannabis cultivation, which was a source of income for the villagers. Lacking power in the rural areas, and unwilling to alienate powerful landowners whose support they relied on, the French authorities resorted to a “

” implementation of drug policies, aimed at satisfying international requirements without ostracising domestic political forces.

The intersection of colonial impositions with local negotiations, resulting in performative drug control policies, would become the 

After its independence, Lebanon continued the French charade. After declaring that it would take drastic measures to curb hashish production during WWII, members of the British Security Mission who assisted Lebanese authorities 

 that they had to apply “considerable direct pressure . . . on a reluctant Gendarmerie” to get any action done.

The colonial legacy of drug control in Lebanon

ISLAMABAD: Speakers at a conference organised by the Justice Project of Pakistan urged the government to introduce a drug policy that focuses on harm reduction, education, and medication to prevent deaths due to overdose and incentivise rehabilitation for substance use disorders.

Speaking at a plenary session ‘Effective Health and Harm Reduction Responses to Drug Use’, Syed Zulfiqar Hussain, a narcotics policy campaigner, said there were almost 6.7 million drug users in Pakistan and the country did not have an effective “harm reduction treatment” policy. In Lahore alone, there were over 7,000 homeless drug users with as many as 120 “hotspots”.

“There is no specialised treatment centre for women with drug dependence in Pakistan. People who use drugs deserve dignity, respect, and stigma-free care,” said Mr Hussain.

Amir Munir, additional district and sessions judge, said there was a need to develop a consensus regarding drug policy, particularly its legal aspect which treated substance users as pariahs.

Pakistan: Drug policy needs to focus on ‘harm reduction’ for effective response

The Centre for Research and Information on Substance Abuse (CRISA) hereby announces its 15th Biennial International Conference on Drugs, Alcohol and Society in Africa. The conference will hold in Abuja on 7 and 8 August 2024. In the context of a growing demand for evidence based substance use disorder treatment systems, the major theme of the 2024 conference is “Improving access to treatment for substance use disorders: Emerging strategies and persistent challenges”.

We invite you to submit abstracts of relevant research papers on this theme for
presentation at the conference. We will also consider requests to organize panel discussions, debates and workshops on the topic of drug and alcohol policy in one country, region or across the continent. We welcome original contributions from a range of disciplines, including health and social sciences, law, the humanities, and media studies (especially social media).

Papers not directly related to the major theme but address any current issue on
psychoactive substance use in Africa will be accepted for presentation at the conference.

You will find below a list of suggested sub-themes and topics for your consideration. The major theme of the 2024 International Conference is: Improving access to treatment for substance use disorders: Emerging strategies and persistent challenges

Sub-themes addressing treatment issues, supply and demand, and responses to problems include the following:

Availability of services for people who use drugs; access to treatment; illicit supply and drug markets in Africa; decriminalization of drug use; community epidemiology of drug/alcohol use and substance use disorders; regulation of drugs; medicinal cannabis; harm reduction; availability of medications for the management of pain; control of prescription opioids; alcohol and tobacco policies; measuring policy effectiveness; assessment of national plans of action, and national practice guidelines; stigma; alternative development; availability and use of new psychoactive substances; social and cultural factors in drug supply and demand; community factors in the prevention of drug and
alcohol abuse; role of the media and civil society; gender perspectives; drugs and the legal system; the current state of drug policy research, vulnerable populations; etc.

Papers that are not directly related to these sub-themes will also be considered for presentation at the conference as long as they address some aspect of the substance use situation in Africa

In addition to sessions devoted to the presentation of research papers, the conference will feature:

Discussion panels on professional practice and policy.


The conference will be held in Abuja, Nigeria. The specific venue will be announced later.


Please take note of the following important dates:

Abstract submission deadline: 26 April 2024

Full Paper submission deadline: 7 June 2024

Deadline for Early Bird registration: 12 July 2024

Begin with the paper title, followed by author(s), affiliation(s).

The first and last names of authors should be written in full.

Provide full contact information for the lead author.

The main body of the abstract should be in one paragraph with no subheadings for the sections. 

More information on pre-conference workshops, registration, travel, accommodation, etc. will be available on the CRISA website in due course. You can also contact us directly for such information.


All registered participants will be served lunch and tea/coffee for two days and will also receive conference materials, complimentary copies of the African Journal of Drug and Alcohol Studies, books and certificates of participation.


Full registration: N40,000 ($100 for international participants)

Early registration: N35,000 (payment on or before 12 July 2024)


For further information about the conference please contact:

Gloria Akpabio: Phone: +234 802 756 1365
Nsidibe Essien: Phone +234 803 328 9499

Email: crisainfo1@gmail.com or info@crisaafrica.org
Office: CRISA, 84 Aka Itiam Road, Uyo, Nigeria

Conference Chair: Professor Isidore S. Obot, Executive Director, CRISA
Email: obotis@gmail.com or iobot@crisaafrica.org

Information about registration, travel and accommodation will also be available on the CRISA website — www.crisaafrica.org.

This African conference series was launched in 1991 and has attracted participants from around the continent and the world over the years. We look forward to seeing first time and returning participants in Abuja in August 20204. Do not hesitate to contact us for any information you may need in connection with the conference.

15th Biennial International Conference on Drugs, Alcohol and Society in Africa

 of settler colonialism by Canada, while their prohibition and attached criminalization have been used to 

Collective prohibitionist policies are key to the interlocking social relations of colonial control and capitalism under Canada. The carceral apparatus, which includes courts, prisons and provincial-level 

 systems, is largely powered by drug war-related charges, either through direct drug-related events, or the indirect violence generated by an unregulated drug market.

, Canada is overseeing a crisis of mass death due to the unregulated drug market now producing a contaminated and unpredictable supply in response to a century of shifting forms of 

 by drug opioid and stimulant drug poisonings between January 2016 and September 2023 in Canada (and 

 people died in the province of British Columbia alone from April 2016 to January 2024).

In Palestine, restrictions on substances have been employed as a tool of war by the settler state of Israel.


Undoing colonial carcerality everywhere: Palestine & the global drug war

KARACHI -- Pakistan is establishing a legal framework for cannabis trade after the government approved the herb for industrial uses nearly four years ago, hoping to capitalize on the booming market to increase its foreign exchange reserves.

A presidential order passed in February delineated rules for the formation of Pakistan's first Cannabis Control and Regulatory Authority. The government approved cannabis for industrial use in September 2020 but had not established a regulatory framework due to internal conflict.

"We are very serious about this initiative, and things are moving at a very fast pace," a senior official of the Special Investment Facilitation Council, which is spearheading government efforts to draw investments and overhaul the economy, told Nikkei Asia.

The new coalition government -- formed of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) -- is setting up the regulatory body to formulate policies, such as issuing licenses to growers and sellers, and earmarking regions for cultivation, the official added.

Pakistan hopes to take advantage of its conducive growing conditions to enter the global cannabis market, that according to Indian research company MarketsandMarkets, will grow to $82.3 billion by 2027 from $27.2 billion in 2022. The country is seeking ways to increase exports and raise taxes to break its dependency on foreign loans and bailouts from the International Monetary Fund.

Middle East / North Africa