The officials told MAP that this noble Royal Initiative will remove a real obstacle to the region's development, while improving the living conditions of its population, as well as strengthening the commitment of all stakeholders to the development process and to associative, cultural and sporting life.

Hmidou Akaaboune, President of the Tamedit commune in the Mernissa Caidat (district) in Taounate province, said that this noble Royal initiative gladdened the local population and gave them hope for a better future, especially those prosecuted for cannabis cultivation and their families.

He added that these people were faced by several difficulties with regard to administrative procedures, due to legal proceedings brought against them, adding that these wanted individuals were sometimes unable to leave their communes.

According to the local official, this situation was simultaneously an obstacle to the region’s development and to the improvement of the living standards of its population and an impediment to equitable participation in the collective dynamics of development.

For his part, President of the Ratba commune of the Taounate province, Abdelaziz Abousalim, said that this Royal Initiative was a real comfort for the inhabitants of the commune, the province and the northern region as a whole, especially as the people concerned and their families will be able to reintegrate into community, cultural and sporting life after having been excluded from it for a long time. 

The Royal Pardon reinforces various development projects in the region, including roads, schools and facilities, he noted, praising the positive cooperation and ongoing interaction with the executives of the National Agency for the Regulation of Cannabis-Related Activities (ANRAC), as well as the role they play in supporting the legalization project. 

On the anniversary of the Revolution of the King and the People, His Majesty the King kindly granted His pardon to 4,831 individuals convicted, prosecuted or wanted in cases linked to cannabis cultivation, and who fulfilled the conditions required to benefit from the Pardon.